#but the cinematography and plot and overall ambiance of the film was just so......

[seoafin]

im physically here but my brain is still stuck on blade runner 2049 three months later

[lostsoulscritique-blog]

Film Review: The Great Wall

WARNING: We attempted to stay away from spoilers, but perhaps not well enough! Read with caution!

Okay, let us start off by saying we are huge Matt Damon fans, and this is one of his more recent movies following his most known trilogy; Can anyone say “GET BOURNE!”

(Perhaps a review of his newest Bourne movie is in our future?)

We have just watched The Great Wall; Can anyone say “Get the last 2 hours of my life back?”

“How bad could it be?” we said.

“Matt Damon is in it,” we said.

Hmmm…

Here are our (current) criteria for a good movie:

The Entertainment Factor

Good, Strong Characters

A Solid Plot

A Workable, But Not Overpowering Subplot

A Surprising and Powerful Climax

An Interesting and Believable Conflict

So let us review:

Was it Entertaining?  ★ ★ ★

Yes! I was entertained. It picked up pretty quickly (which I appreciate - no one likes an hour of back story). But, on the flip side, there was no back story. I couldn’t relate to the characters at all. I felt no emotional connection and was completely indifferent to the ending. There were a lot of WTF moments in the movie… At one point they are able to raise part of the Great Wall to fight the beasts. Seemed like kind of a serious movie. However, there are points in the movie where you think to yourself “Are they gonna break out in song and dance”? It was very theatrical at intervals. In the middle of fighting a battle with beasts, the characters stopped to pound on drums in sync. A lot of the garments were black, gray, etc… then you would get the random electric blue, purple, red, and shiny gold armor. Kinda takes you by surprise.

-R.

Well, of course. The story was interesting enough, and the cinematography was so theatrical, there could not conceivably be a dull moment, and there wasn’t. But, I absolutely agree with R. I could not become emotionally invested in the movie or nearly any of the characters. The only two times either of us seemed to emit a real response to the movie was during a jump-scare and a particularly shocking character death. On top of this, a lot of the movie simply does not make sense and is entirely too outlandish. The raising of the Great Wall, the battle strategies, the unexplained circumstances… The movie leaves viewers wondering if perhaps they missed something… A lot of somethings. R. explained this very well.

-L.

Were the Characters Good?  ★ ★ ★

The view on Matt Damon is tainted as we are huge fans. General Lin was ok. Not sure how they would have filled that role any better. I got the feeling they were supposed to be love interests, but there was no spark/ electricity/ attraction…blah, blah, blah! The one character that you feel a connection to or at least a vested interest is a younger soldier that ends up sacrificing himself for the good of the order. ☹

-R.

We are entirely biased in this sense! Both of us love Matt Damon. Jing Tian’s General Lin was written as a powerful character, but it seemed she acted out-of-character on multiple occasions, as did Matt Damon’s William, and others. R. mentioned that General Lin and William were supposed to be love interests, and I agree, but the interpretation could go either way, as no clear dialog or action proves one theory or the other. R. knows who my favorite character is, and mentioned his fate in her ending line of this section. Needless to say, I will be in mourning for a period.

-L.

Solid Plot?  ★

UHHHHHH. Hell No! Had no clue what was going on the whole movie. The beasts were a surprise, didn’t know there was a capital until the emperor (or head honcho) showed up, what’s up with the preparation for sixty years??? Poor. Keep in mind we were eating Haagen Dazs ice cream and Smart Food cheddar popcorn, so we definitely had good vibes going on.

SIDE NOTE: Haagen Dazs Rocky Road ice cream has more of a marshmallow cream rather than actual mini marshmallows (little disappointing).

-R.

The short answer? No, not really. The long answer? I do not have enough time, space, or patience to provide it. I will say that this movie definitely changed direction multiple times, and added in elements that were useless. Then there were thematic elements that were repeated much too often (once you watch the movie, you will know, you will understand. You simply will). There was little to no real backstory to the characters or plot, which definitely subtracted from the movie itself. A lot of the scenes subtracted from the movie itself.

-L.

Workable/ not overpowering subplot?  ★

Not sure there was one!

-R.

Honestly, the subplot was so incredibly sub, it may be virtually nonexistent.

-L.

Climax?  ★

There was a little build up. Had to ride hot air balloons to travel to the capital to fight the beasts. Matt Damon arrives in the nick of time to save General Lin from being eaten. They have to find higher ground to shoot the queen, as they do the sun shines in on stained glass and creates a very magical rainbow ambiance. Third times the charm though and that’s that. Little anticlimactic for us. ☹

-R.

The climax was, well, anticlimactic. Both R. and I were dissatisfied. There was hot air ballooning, there was bungee jumping, there was disappointed groaning from the audience. It… It could have been better.

-L.

Conflict?  ★ ★

There was some conflict in the movie. Matt Damon’s friend ends up betraying him, but in the end, they work it out. Due to his friend betraying him General Lin (Ms. Love Interest, sort of) doesn’t feel she can trust Matt Damon but they end up working it out too. Felt like it was a little forced and over quickly!

-R.

The movie was all conflict, but it did not feel like it. I was not tense or frustrated at what was happening in the movie, I was more involved and invested in cringing at the dialog and escalations of absurdity. There, of course, were multiple betrayals throughout the movie, all quite small in size compared to the main conflict, but were somehow able to overshadow the Big Bad. This was a disappointing realization.

-L.

What did we like?

Captured our interest and of course Matt Damon. The beasts were entertaining and thought they were kinda cool. When they introduce them, they do a little back story, and the art is well done. Didn’t mind the vibrant colors and theatrical flare, but didn’t feel like it kept with the theme of the movie. Was inconsistent.

-R.

The score was fantastic! I absolutely loved the music, and even though we cite the drums as annoying (they subtracted from action sequences in their format), the sound was incredible. There was wonderful symmetry in some scenes, and a lot of the movie was theatrical and in sync. That was great. Matt Damon’s performance may have been lacking in my opinion, but Jing Tian, Lu Han, and Pedro Pascal quickly began to pick up the slack.

-L.

What didn’t we like?

No emotional connection to the characters. Quite an accomplishment since Matt Damon is in the film. There was always an inconsistency of theme, and the film had no build up of tension. The love interest was virtually non-existent. Was not sad (or glad) to see this movie end. Very indifferent.

-R.

A lot of the scenes were too reminiscent of other films. William throws a shield like Captain America, the beasts attack as in Lord of the Rings, Word War Z and even Independence Day: Resurgence. This was frustrating but laughable. Unfortunately, it did add to our disassociation from the film, as we did not become invested in these sequences; we knew how these scenes would turn out. The inconsistency, lack of explanation and confusing, well, everything, was unfortunate.

-L.

Overall Rating

★ ★