The Great Wall (film)

The Great Wall () is a 2016 science fantasy action monster film directed by Zhang Yimou, with a screenplay by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro and Tony Gilroy, from a story by Max Brooks, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. An American and Chinese co-production starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Lau, the plot centers around a European mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) imprisoned by imperial Chinese forces within the Great Wall of China after arriving in search of gunpowder, eventually joining forces with the Chinese to help combat an alien threat. "The Great Wall" is Zhang's first English-language film.
Principal photography for the film began on March 30, 2015, in Qingdao, China, and it premiered in Beijing on December 6, 2016. It was released by China Film Group in China on December 16, 2016, and in the United States on February 17, 2017 by Universal Pictures. The film received negative reviews from critics, who said it "sacrifices great story for great action." Although it grossed $335 million worldwide, the film was still considered a box office bomb due to its high production and marketing costs, with losses as high as $75 million.
Plot.
European mercenaries, including Irishman William Garin and Spaniard Pero Tovar, travel to China during the reign of the Song dynasty's Renzong Emperor, searching for the secret to gunpowder. A few miles north of the Great Wall, they are attacked by a monster. Only Garin and Tovar survive; they sever the monster's arm and bring it with them. Upon reaching the Wall, they are taken prisoner by soldiers of the Nameless Order, led by General Shao and Strategist Wang. The Nameless Order exists to combat alien monsters called Tao Tie, which arrived from a meteorite and attack once every sixty years. While examining the severed monster arm, the Order's commanders are surprised by the monsters' first assault, which has come one week early.
Shortly after, a horde of Tao Tie assails the Wall. Both sides sustain heavy losses before the monsters' queen aborts the attack. During the battle, Garin and Tovar are freed by Ballard, another European who came east twenty-five years earlier in search of gunpowder; detained, he now serves as an English and Latin teacher. Garin and Tovar display amazing battle skills, saving the life of young warrior Peng Yong, then slaying two monsters, earning them the Order's respect. The three Europeans secretly plan to steal gunpowder and flee during the next monster attack.
That night, two Tao Tie reach the top of the Wall. General Shao is killed, placing Commander Lin in charge of the Nameless Order. Around this time, an envoy from the capital arrives with an ancient scroll which suggests that the monsters are pacified by magnets. Wang believes the stone Garin carries enabled him to slay the Tao Tie he fought at the cave. To test the hypothesis, Garin suggests they capture a Tao Tie alive and agrees to help. This delays his escape plans, angering Tovar, who nevertheless assists Garin despite Ballard's protests.
During the next attack, the Tao Tie are numerous enough to cause Lin to resort to using arrows equipped with black powder, whose capabilities had been kept secret from the Westerners until now. They capture a living Tao Tie and prove the theory. However, the Imperial envoy claims the monster and takes it to the capital to present to the Emperor.
A tunnel is discovered at the base of the Wall; the previous attacks had been a distraction so that the Tao Tie could dig the tunnel. While Lin investigates, Tovar and Ballard steal a supply of black powder and escape, knocking Garin unconscious for trying to stop them. Garin is arrested by the Nameless Order, and is locked up in the Wall. Some distance away, Ballard betrays and abandons Tovar, but is captured by bandits, who accidentally kill Ballard and themselves after igniting the powder. At the capital, the envoy presents the captive Tao Tie to the Emperor and his entourage, but it awakens and reveals its position to its queen, who signals the Tao Tie to attack.
The Order rushes to the capital. Lin orders the use of hot-air balloons, and sets Garin free before leaving. Wang tells him to warn the outside world, but Garin boards the last balloon with Peng and Wang. They arrive just in time to save Lin from being devoured. They land in the Emperor's palace, where Wang proposes killing the queen by tying explosives to the captured Tao Tie and giving it meat to be delivered to the queen. While approaching the site, a horde of Tao Tie attack the band, and Peng sacrifices himself to save the others.
After releasing the Tao Tie, Lin and Garin climb a tower so that Garin can detonate the explosives with an arrow. Wang sacrifices himself to buy time for Lin and Garin to reach the upper floors. Two of Garin's arrows are deflected by the Tao Tie queen's bodyguards, but Garin throws the magnet into the horde, creating a gap in the shields, allowing Lin's spear to get through. The queen is killed, and the rest of the horde is paralyzed. With the threat eliminated, Garin is allowed to return home and elects to take Tovar (whom the Nameless Order recaptured) with him instead of a reward of black powder, much to Tovar's annoyance.
Production.
Principal photography began on March 30, 2015, on location in Qingdao. It is the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China.
Three walls were built during production as they could not shoot on the actual Great Wall. During the filmmaking, the director said the most impressive part for him was the presence of so many translators to handle communication, as he assembled an international crew for the filming. More than 100 on-set translators worked with the various cast and crew members.
Music.
The film's score is composed by Ramin Djawadi. The first track called "Nameless Order" was released on December 14, 2016.
Release.
"The Great Wall" was released in China on December 16, 2016. It was released on February 17, 2017 in the United States by Universal Pictures in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D. In the Philippines, the film was released by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures Philippines on January 25, 2017.
Marketing.
"The Great Wall" released its first trailer in July 2016. The trailer shows views of the Great Wall in fog, thousands of soldiers on a battlefield ready for war, and a mysterious monster, as well as the roster views of the cast, including Matt Damon and Andy Lau.
A song from Leehom Wang and Tan Weiwei was released on November 15, 2016, to promote "The Great Wall". "Bridge of Fate" was composed by pop singer Wang, with lyrics written by Vincent Fang, a long time collaborator of singer-songwriter Jay Chou. Female rocker Tan Weiwei joined Wang for a duet, but with two different vocal styles. Wang sang pop, while Tan performed a traditional Qinqiang – a folk Chinese opera style from Shaanxi Province.
Chinese pop diva Jane Zhang released another new English song, "Battle Field", and its promotional music video, for "The Great Wall" on November 22, 2016. The song was composed by King Logan and Maroon 5's keyboardist PJ Morton, and written by Josiah "JoJo" Martin and Jane Zhang. It was produced by Timbaland.
Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment debuted eight character posters of the film on November 17, 2016. All in all, Legendary spent $110–120 million on promotion and advertising worldwide.
Legendary Pictures made a strategic decision to work with Chinese talent and investors, and altered their production plan to better cater to Chinese audiences. "The Great Wall", funded by Legendary, China Film Group, and Universal Pictures was an attempt at a joint production between Chinese and American talent. The film was directed by a big-time Chinese director, Zhang Yimou, and starred Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe alongside Chinese film stars in an attempt to capture Chinese audiences. Although the film was considered to be a box office failure in China, the intent was clear and compelling. Other film studios such as Pixar have been making these minor adjustments to appeal to international audiences for years.
The film was released for digital download on May 9, 2017, and on DVD, Blu-ray on May 23, 2017.
Reception.
Box office.
"The Great Wall" grossed $45.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $289.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $334.9 million, against a production budget of $150 million.
In China, "The Great Wall" opened on December 16, 2016, and made $24.3 million on its first day and $67.4 million in its opening weekend. In the second weekend, it grossed $26.1 million. The film went on to gross $170.9 million at the Chinese box office, which is considered a disappointment.
In the United States and Canada, the film opened alongside "A Cure for Wellness" and "Fist Fight", and was projected to gross $17–19 million from about 3,200 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $970,000 at 2,470 theaters from Thursday night previews, and $5.9 million on its first day. It went on to open to $18.1 million, finishing third at the box office, behind holdovers "The Lego Batman Movie" and "Fifty Shades Darker", and eventually grossing $45.2 million. The film joined "Terminator Genisys", "Warcraft" and fellow 2017 release "" as the only Hollywood films to earn $100 million in China without making $100 million in the United States.
In March 2017, "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that the film was likely to lose about $75 million due to its underwhelming performance theatrically, as its performance in most major markets, including the United States and Canada, was disappointing. The loss incurred by all four studios will however vary, with Universal Pictures, which funded about 25% of the film's $150 million production budget, losing around $10 million. The rest of the investors, Legendary Entertainment, China Film Group and Le Vision Pictures, will have an equal loss. However, since Universal also covered almost all of the film's global marketing expenses (which were above $80 million), the studio will incur an even more heavy loss. However, if the film was able to generate enough income through ancillary revenues (such as home entertainment sales and TV rights), it might not be able to cover up the loss. In March 2018, "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the film lost the studio $74.5 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 234 reviews, and an average rating of 4.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "For a Yimou Zhang film featuring Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe battling ancient monsters, "The Great Wall" is neither as exciting nor as entertainingly bonkers as one might hope." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 42 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, writing for "The A.V. Club", gave the film a B− on an A to F scale, saying: "There is no logical reason for the film to climax in a tower of stained glass that paints Lin Mae and William in psychedelic "Suspiria" lighting, but boy does it look gorgeous in 3-D." Simon Abrams, a contributor for RogerEbert.com, gave the film a 3 out of 4 stars, summarizing: ""The Great Wall" is unlike any American blockbuster you've seen, a conservative movie with action set pieces that are actually inventive and thrilling enough to be worthwhile. See it on as big a screen as you can."
Clarence Tsui, writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", gave the film a negative review, saying: ""The Great Wall" is easily the least interesting and involving blockbuster of the respective careers of both its director and star."
Controversies.
White protagonist in an East Asian setting.
Because some of the characters, including a main character played by Matt Damon, are white in a film set in medieval China, the film was accused of whitewashing and using the white savior narrative prior to its release. Ann Hornaday, chief film critic for "The Washington Post", wrote that "early concerns about Damon playing a 'white savior' in the film turn out to be unfounded: his character, a mercenary soldier, is heroic, but also clearly a foil for the superior principles and courage of his Chinese allies." Jonathan Kim, in a review for "the Huffington Post", writes that "having seen "The Great Wall", I can say that ... on the charge of "The Great Wall" insulting the Chinese and promoting white superiority, I say: Not Guilty. The question of whether "The Great Wall" is a white savior movie is a bit trickier, but I'm still going to say Not Guilty. ... On the charge of whitewashing, I say: Not Guilty."
Director Zhang said that Damon was not playing a role that was intended for a Chinese actor. He criticized detractors for not being "armed with the facts" and stated that "In many ways "The Great Wall" is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tentpole scale for a world audience. I believe that is a trend that should be embraced by our industry."
Chinese critical response.
The film's largest investor, the Wanda Group (owner of Legendary Pictures) has a good relationship with the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China. As of July 2017, users of film review website Douban rated "The Great Wall" 4.9 out of 10. On Maoyan, another film review aggregator, the "professional score" is 4.9 out of 10. On December 28, 2016, the Communist Party's official media outlet "People's Daily" published an article on its website severely criticizing Douban and Maoyan for doing harm to the Chinese movie industry with their bad reviews. On the same day, Maoyan took down its "professional score" for "The Great Wall".