![the great wall movie showtimes the great wall movie showtimes](https://www.nowrunning.com/content/movie/2016/The-G-17058/bg4.jpg)
Once that advantage is removed, he’s no better or worse than any of the other soldiers. But his “skill” turns out to be dumb luck: He’s carrying a magnet, and the monsters are susceptible to magnetism for some reason. Universalĭamon’s character is presented as adept at killing monsters. Jing Tian will be in lots of movies you see in the next couple of years. There’s nary a hint of romance between the two, either. And though she leans on Damon for counsel, his entire arc is about learning to give up his selfish tendencies and join the collective that is Jing’s army.
#The great wall movie showtimes how to
She’s the one who must figure out how to take on The Great Wall’s monster horde - known as the tao tei. Jing plays the woman thrust into the role of general after her mentor and father figure dies. But the bulk of the narrative - including the final, decisive shot against the monsters - belongs to rising Chinese star Jing Tian, who also stars in the upcoming American films Kong: Skull Island and Pacific Rim: Uprising. So where did all of those outraged headlines originate? And how do they illuminate the way we talk about pop culture today? The Great Wall isn’t really a white savior narrative, but its marketing essentially sold it as oneĭamon’s name is the first in The Great Wall’s credits, he’s the guy the film’s marketing is centered on, and his character has a nice little story arc. Zhang’s reading of his picture - Damon plays one of the film’s five main heroes - is more or less true, and his character mostly avoids white savior tropes.
![the great wall movie showtimes the great wall movie showtimes](https://dreambigfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/db_15_greatwallscenic.jpg)
At the time of the film’s release, essentially every review of what ultimately proved to be an agreeably dumb monster movie had to deal with the controversy in some capacity.Īnd yet despite its persistence, the fervor over The Great Wall ended up not being particularly accurate. Zhang is arguably the greatest Chinese director of all time, but his statements weren’t enough to quell the frustration over what appeared to be yet another Hollywood production cutting out people of color in favor of a white guy. I hope when everyone sees the film and is armed with the facts they will agree.
![the great wall movie showtimes the great wall movie showtimes](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-+OdbMiSL.jpg)
As the director of over 20 Chinese language films and the Beijing Olympics, I have not and will not cast a film in a way that was untrue to my artistic vision. The collective struggle and sacrifice of these heroes are the emotional heart of our film. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them - the other four are all Chinese. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall. I believe that is a trend that should be embraced by our industry. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent pole scale for a world audience. In many ways The Great Wall is the opposite of what is being suggested. Zhang, who had waited decades for the Chinese film industry to grow enough to support a project of this scale, seemed particularly frustrated in his statement, offered to Entertainment Weekly. The Great Wall opens in 3D on February 17, 2017.Forget "white saviors": The Great Wall is really about fighting giant lizard monstersĮventually, the fervor reached such a degree that responses from both Damon himself (he called the controversy a “fucking bummer”) and director Zhang Yimou were sought. Written by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, and Tony Gilroy, the film also stars Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Hanyu Zhang, Eddie Peng, Lu Han, Kenny Lin, Junkai Wang, Zheng Kai, Cheney Chen, Xuan Huang, and Andy Lau. No doubt the film was made with Chinese box office prospects in mind, so this will be a curious one to keep an eye on next year. Story-wise, though, it remains to be seen if this will all come off as silly, or if the danger is visceral. Legendary made a swell call in enlisting Yimou to direct and giving him a Hollywood blockbuster budget to work with, and this appears to be a fantastic blend of Chinese and Hollywood filmmaking sensibilities. Visually, this thing looks pretty spectacular. Set 1,000 years in the past, an elite force makes a valiant stand for humanity atop the titular wall, which is constructed to keep out a beast of monstrous proportions. Directed by Hero and House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou, the film stars Matt Damon and tells the “true” story behind why the titular Great Wall of China was built in the first place. Fresh off the first images debut earlier this morning, Universal Pictures and Legendary have unveiled the first trailer for The Great Wall.