Predictably, after declaring their differences, William and Lin end up flirting and saving the day together. William and Tovar shine, too, saving a young Chinese soldier and gaining their captors’ trust as the battle rages on-a trust Tovar shatters when he flees the fight with black powder that he steals with the help of a sniveling Anglo captive (Willem Dafoe).
William and Tovar speak no Chinese, so it is the beautiful lady Commander Lin (Jing Tian) who translates for them, explaining that the claw heralds the arrival of the Taotie, a horde of scaly, emerald-colored, dinosaur-dragon-lizard creatures that appear every sixty years in search of human flesh to feed their elephant-sized queen-a punishing reminder to the Chinese emperor never to take his earthly dominion for granted.īurly but fleet, the beasts attack by the thousands, counterposing sharp fangs, state-of-the-art special effects and Zhang’s sweeping compositions, surveying huge crowds in action. The next day, when forced to surrender to the Chinese garrison, they present the monster limb to their captors- a boastful distraction from the lie that they are but humble traders who got lucky with their weapons. Narrowly escaping attack by an unseen beast, they sever its giant green reptilian claw in the shadows beyond their campire’s glow. William and Tovar, his axe-wielding Spanish sidekick (Pedro Pascal) have wandered the desert in search of the storied black powder, hoping to plunder some and return to Europe to retire rich. It’s the hunt for gunpowder-a 9th century Chinese discovery-that draws the stateless Anglo soldier-of-fortune, William (Matt Damon) into conflict with a Chinese army stationed atop the titular massive wall built to defend their capital against a mysterious enemy. Visually, it’s nearly as stunning in scale and scope as the 66-year-old director’s design of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, presenting a crisp parade of striking costumes, beautiful production design, mist-shrouded desert landscapes, rousing battle sequences and lightning flashes of deep, resonant color inside its muted palette.įrom a script originally hatched by producer Thomas Tull (reportedly an old fashioned fantasy/monster movie fanboy), and subsequently labored over by a succession of high-paid Hollywood pros to feature the adventures of wandering Euro-mercenaries in Song Dynasty (11th-Century) China, Zhang has created a vehicle to spotlight China as the source of military might and moral right, from an overwhelming number of troops with unshakable loyalty to their emperor, to the magical black powder that “turns air into fire” and the fortitude to use that powder only for good. Arriving in the US this past weekend and earning some US $21.5 million as of Tuesday morning, the hybrid monster movie/war epic is a curious specimen, representing Zhang at both his best and worst. The first coproduction between China and the US directed by an A-list auteur from either country, Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall was long anticipated, and then anticlimactic once its Chinese run last December failed to attain the record-breaking earnings necessary to justify its megabudget cost.
Distributed by Universal Pictures (cinemas here). The Great Wall (2016), story by Max Brooks, Edward Zwick & Marshall Hershkovitz screenplay by Carlo Bernard & Doug Miro, Tony Gilroy directed by Zhang Yimou. Periodically, CFI will review and point readers in the direction of noteworthy US releases of contemporary commercial and independent Chinese titles.
Though they receive virtually no publicity outside the non-Chinese community, these films are more than worth seeking out by anyone serious about engaging the Chinese industry, understanding the Chinese sensibility and familiarizing themselves with China’s talent pool. But in major US cities, mainstream Chinese films are increasingly available: thanks to Wanda’s purchase of AMC and distributors like China Lion, they get American theatrical releases practically simultaneous to their premieres at home. Film Review: ‘The Great Wall’ is The Best of Zhang, The Worst of ZhangĮvery day while CFI’s Hollywood readers take in the business of the Chinese film industry, the actual movies can sometimes seem exotic or remote.
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