'THE GREAT WALL' is the most expensive Chinese movie ever made at a budget of US$150M, is the first English language film Directed by Zhang Yimou and is best described as an epic historical action adventure fantasy monster film. It was released in China in mid-December and has so far grossed US$300M since its release in Australia on 16th and the US on 17th February. Being a US and Chinese Co-Production, the original idea for the film came from Legendary Pictures CEO, Thomas Tull and Max Brooks who wrote 'World War Z'. ILM were responsible for the impressive digital visual effects and Weta Workshops the equally impressive practical effects. To coordinate such an international cast and crew on a Chinese set, Director Zhang Yimou had a team of one hundred translators available at all times to ensure that instructions were relayed and understood promptly and efficiently by the non-locals.
Set in the China of about a thousand years ago, European warrior William Garin (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal) and two others are all that remain of a mercenary group of twenty searching for a fabled black powder to secure their wealth back home, but they are pursued by bandits through the mountain terrain. Escaping the bandits they make camp for the night, but one of the men sustained an arrow wound and is in bad shape. Discussing their strategy to escape capture, secure a stash of black powder and high tail it outta there, Garin and Tovar have a private conversation, when they are attacked by an unknown force that quickly dispenses with the two other men leaving nothing but a trail of blood. When the unseen monster manifests itself Garin chops of its hand sending it tumbling dead into a ravine far below, leaving the two men questioning what the hell that have just witnessed. They decide to take the dismembered arm with them, and the next day are pursued once more by those pesky persistent bandit types leading the pair to the heavily fortified Great Wall, where they are taken prisoner.
Once inside the Great Wall they are questioned by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) and Strategist Wang (Andy Lau) who preside over a secret military sect known as the Nameless Order. Inside Garins kit bag they find the severed arm and question him about it and how he came by it. At first they don't believe that one man alone could have killed such a monster, and reveal that this is one of a horde of ancient marauding monsters known collectively as the Tao Tei who attack just once every sixty years. Theres is the stronghold with which to repel the Tao Tei and prevent the horde from breaching the Great Wall and gaining access to the cities and the world beyond. The Nameless Order are a special military force commissioned by the Imperial Court. Believing that the first attack of the Tao Tei was still some weeks away, Shao and Wang deduce that an attack must now be imminent, and give orders to prepare accordingly at all speed.
As Garin and Tovar are taken up to the heavily fortified ramparts of the Great Wall, they are ordered to sit while a guard stands over them. The pair do not know what to expect. The Nameless Order is split into five special units each with its own distinctive colours - the melee-specialist Bear Troop, the acrobatic-specialist Crane Troop, the archer-specialist Eagle Troop, the siege engine-specialist Tiger Troop, and the horse-mounted Deer Troop. As the five distinct Troops ready themselves for battle, the two prisoners can only sit wondering what is about to unfold.
As the attack begins the various Troops are mobilised and the first Taoties (in the singular) clamber over the tall ramparts. Garin and Tovar are freed from their restraints by Sir Ballard (Willem Dafoe) and immediately go into fight against the Tao Tei onslaught holding their own, slaying several monsters and saving the lives of a number of soldiers. After sustaining casualties on both sides, the Queen of the Tao Tei recalls her drones and they retreat back to their mountain lair. After the battle Garin and Tovar are praised for their fighting skills earning them the respect of General Shao and Commander Lin (Jing Tian) the leader of the Crane Troop.
One night two Taoties make it to the top of the Wall and take out several watchmen, unusually leaving their corpses where they fell. Shao and Lin lead a small platoon of soldiers to investigate but are ambushed and Shao is badly injured, ultimately dying from his wounds. He passes over the baton of General to Commander Lin. The next day an envoy arrives with the news that the Tao Tei are pacified by magnets which also prevents them communicating with each other and their Queen. Garin suggests capturing a Taotie to test their theory, which thwarts Tovars plan for escape with Ballard.
The next day the Tao Tei attack again, leaving Lin no alternative but to use black powder rockets to overcome the attacking hordes of advancing monsters. She was reluctant to do so because black powder had been a closely guarded secret from Westerners up until now, believing its power will be put to no good. Garin and Tovar are able to capture a live Taotie under cover of the black powder bombardment and prove the theory. The captured Taotie is taken to the capital by the envoy, and in the meantime a tunnel is discovered through the mountain at the base of the Wall with which the Tao Tei have dug access through to the capital (clever critters!) At the same time Tovar and Ballard instigate their escape and render Garin unconscious for resisting their escape efforts. Garin is promptly arrested for aiding and abetting the other two, but is released upon the testimony of a witness. In the mountains having made their escape, Ballard and Tovar are overcome by them pesky persistent bandits again, costing Ballard his life when the unsuspecting captors play with black powder grenades and throw them into the fire! Tovar is recaptured by the Deer Troop and imprisoned back at the Wall.
Knowing that the Tao Tei are advancing on the capital Lin orders a mass advance on the city using people carrying but unstable hot air balloons. Despite being granted his freedom by Lin, Garin offers to join the final advance on the capital. Wang proposes to tie black powder explosive charges to the captured Taotie and feed it with meat which in turn it will feed to the Queen. Destroy the Queen, and you destroy the Tao Tei. With the Queen and her hordes of Taotie gathered below in the square Garin and Lin climb up a nearby tower which will give them a clear shot using a black powder rocket into the feeding Queen below. Two attempts fail, and then Garin throws a magnet into the feeding horde giving Lin a clear shot with her spear. Contact is made and the Queen is blown into a thousand pieces, and the marauding horde of Tao Tei monsters are frozen to the spot dead.Back at the Wall, Lin offers Garin all the black powder he can carry home, or the freedom of his friend Tovar. Garin chooses the life of Tovar, and so the pair are given a cavalry escort back home, watched from the ramparts by General Lin as they ride off into the sunset.
I enjoyed 'The Great Wall', but perhaps not as much as I thought I would. The action set pieces are well executed, the monster Tao Tei are well realised, and the attention to detail in the production values is first rate. The story moves along at a brisk pace, but I felt ill at ease with Damon's performance, because I couldn't help feeling that he felt ill at ease in delivering his role - after all, he is carrying the weight of a Chinese epic production on his shoulders the like of which we have never seen before. No pressure Matt! Also, I couldn't reconcile why them marauding monsters would suddenly drop dead in their tracks upon the death of their Queen, and how a magnet would render the Tao Tei useless. The Chinese Actors portrayed their roles a lot more convincingly than their American counterparts, although Pedro Pascal puts in the best turn out of the three. Catch it on the big screen for all the immediacy of the battle sequences and the spectacle of the Wall.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
