The Great Wall

I didn't really believe in it, and I didn't even bother going to the cinema, but now fresh from watching it I am very pleasantly surprised. Yimou Zhang is a skilled director and his visuals can easily compete with Hollywood. Matt Damon was more than excellent as the archer, and Willem Dafoe was also impressive, while among the Asians, Andy Lau, Eddie Peng and Princess Tian Jing, who also had a role in the new Kong, were good. The action starts at the 15th minute and the siege of the Great Wall of China is very spectacular. I was impressed by the strategy, the synchronisation of the army and all the tools and technologies were very good. I also liked the look of the monsters, which had acceptable CGI. For me, a very entertaining and engaging film that I had a great time with. 80% (22/03/2017)

Yet again, mighty China showed that it has no shortage of human material, so there was a massive number of extras as usual, but the whole film was made just for effect. You get overwhelmed by epic music and an overabundance of color, but the story is weak. Matt Damon is as convincing in his role as Bill Clinton was when he claimed that Monica had dripped some yogurt on her dress. And if that wasn’t bad enough, evil is represented by aliens in the form of some sort of overgrown chameleons. Lame. (19/06/2017)

Don't expect more from this film than a few nice visual effects, a couple of imaginative fight scenes, and a funny "Oberyn" – Pedro Pascal. In this day and age of advanced film visual technology and graphics, it bothers me when the effects are too computerized and cheap; after all, things can be better. And those dialogues? My god! And what the hell are Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe doing there? I laughed quite a bit at this film, which is definitely not a compliment... (11/01/2017)

Yimou Zhang means a lot to Chinese cinema—he’s quite a groundbreaking director, so I was very curious to see what his new creation in collaboration with the USA would be like. First off, it’s important to note that this is a story based on ancient Chinese myths, so don’t expect much in the way of strong logic. Until now, I had only seen one Chinese film (Infernal Affairs), but I wasn’t worried at all that The Great Wall would put me off with its predominantly Chinese cast. It certainly helped that the lead role was played by Matt Damon, who is somewhat of a big name today. The clear strengths of the film are the action sequences, with perfectly executed battles against the monsters. In the first battle, I was struck by the colorful display of the soldiers of the "Nameless Order." The hefty financial backing the film received was most evident in the action and costumes, and there’s really not much to criticize there. However, as the film neared its end, I felt like it started to lose momentum. Overall, the story wasn’t groundbreaking, but the final battle saved the overall rating. It’s a visual feast that will entertain you, but don’t expect anything deeper. Still, it’s worth four stars and 73%. (22/06/2017)

China playing Hollywood, but the stupid Hollywood. The production values are like from Asylum, the only difference is that you can see the huge budget. Thanks to the People's Republic of China for an enriching experience, I watched it on a Huawei monitor, thinking about the Silk Road and mentally summarizing the text of the letter to Ovčáček, in which I packed the Blu-ray for Miloš to enjoy as well. (21/05/2017)