The Great Wall is a surprisingly primitive and clunky affair.
Matt Damon heads up this thin but thrilling fantasy epic from acclaimed director Zhang Yimou.
Matt Damon stars in a laborious historical fantasy, doing battle with CGI monsters in order to steal gunpowder from Imperial China.
Enjoyable nonsense.
There are plenty of fun CGI monster-skewering scenes, but a clunky plot, rigid script and equally stiff acting make this a crumbling disappointment, if not quite a disaster.
The country’s most expensive co-production to date is a visual treat, complete with a grizzled Matt Damon, but don’t expect any complex plotting.
What follows is a silly CGI frenzy as Damon joins forces with his captors and learns that there’s nobility in fighting for a higher cause. That helps the film get around the thorny white-saviour issue of his casting in a Chinese-set epic, but not the sub-Lord of the Rings-style tedium that results.
General release. Check local listings for show times.