Review of The Great Wall (2016) by Mark F — 08 May 2017

Visually spectacular.

If you want to see 1000's of Chinese soldiers lined up on the Great Wall with different coloured uniforms according to their role (Red for Archers, Blue for the female Crane Corps, Purple for the close combat fighters) etc facing off against 1000's of CGI monsters and don't mind subtitles then this is the film for you. If any of that puts you off, look elsewhere.

If you enjoyed the large scale battle scenes in the recent (or not so recent now) LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit films, then you'll appreciate this film too.

The story tells the tale of two wandering mercenaries finding their way to China with the aim of trading (or perhaps stealing) the fabled black powder and making it rich. Instead they find themselves thrust into a siege when the monsters attack the wall. They display great heroism in the ensuing battles and thus are appreciated by their Chinese captors even if they don't fully trust them.

They manage to capture one of the beasts and prove that magnets have a nullifying effect on their powers and ability to communicate with the Queen and then take said captive monster to the capital city. Naturally, the monsters breach the wall by tunnelling under it and make their way to the capital whereupon its a race against time to prevent wholesale slaughter and defeat the Queen.

There's obviously plenty of large scale battle scenes to enjoy in this film and as I said at the start, the visuals are simply stunning and clearly directed by a man with an eye for something which is visually appealing.

Overall, I enjoyed this film and found it great to while away 100 minutes or so.