The Great Wall, or maybe, the somewhat okay wall
I saw this film in Russian. Something may have been lost in translation.
Matt Damon’s film The Great Wall is filled with stunning visuals, great looking bows, decent archery and amazing contraptions defending the Great Wall of China. Unfortunately, the story line is as cliché as they come. There are no twists. There are no surprises. In fact, the story seems to have been hung on the backdrop of everything else.
I would insert a spoiler alert here, but if you have seen any other adventure film in the last decade, you already know what is coming. There’s the hero who’s not a hero, the betrayal, the woman the hero falls in love with, the incompetent ruler, the crazy guy who’s been there for a very long time… Kind of like Treasure Island.
It’s not that recycling stories is a bad thing. Everyone does it, and there is even the thought that there are only 7 stories in the world that are retold over and over in different guises. However, the retelling of a story requires that something be different about it, or that the reader, watcher, consumer of the story cares about the characters. This is where The Great Wall fails.
It seems as if the movie was trying too hard to be epic, forgetting in its aspirations that epic doesn’t come from long shots of large armies and awesome battle implements and bungee jumping spear wielders. Epic comes from the intimacy between characters and those who are observing the story from the outside.
If you want a popcorn movie that mostly keeps its archery real and has some amazing visuals, The Great Wall will do just fine. If you want epic or want to engage with the movie, you may want to travel somewhere else.
Matt Damon’s film The Great Wall is filled with stunning visuals, great looking bows, decent archery and amazing contraptions defending the Great Wall of China. Unfortunately, the story line is as cliché as they come. There are no twists. There are no surprises. In fact, the story seems to have been hung on the backdrop of everything else.
I would insert a spoiler alert here, but if you have seen any other adventure film in the last decade, you already know what is coming. There’s the hero who’s not a hero, the betrayal, the woman the hero falls in love with, the incompetent ruler, the crazy guy who’s been there for a very long time… Kind of like Treasure Island.
It’s not that recycling stories is a bad thing. Everyone does it, and there is even the thought that there are only 7 stories in the world that are retold over and over in different guises. However, the retelling of a story requires that something be different about it, or that the reader, watcher, consumer of the story cares about the characters. This is where The Great Wall fails.
It seems as if the movie was trying too hard to be epic, forgetting in its aspirations that epic doesn’t come from long shots of large armies and awesome battle implements and bungee jumping spear wielders. Epic comes from the intimacy between characters and those who are observing the story from the outside.
If you want a popcorn movie that mostly keeps its archery real and has some amazing visuals, The Great Wall will do just fine. If you want epic or want to engage with the movie, you may want to travel somewhere else.