The Great Wall Review: 6 Ups & 5 Downs

by Jack Pooley

1. Jing Tian Is A Strong Female Lead

The Great Wall Jing Tian
Universal

One aspect of the movie that unfortunately hasn't been talked about much is the presence of Chinese actress Jing Tian as Commander Lin Mae.

While viewers would be forgiven for assuming that Tian is just another attractive Chinese model shoved into a Chinese-American co-production for her looks and native appeal, she actually gives one of the best performances in the movie and is probably also the film's most developed character.

Lin Mae is a strong female lead, and while the film hints at romance between her and Damon's Garin, it actually ends up surprisingly avoiding this in favour of something much less cliched. Also, it sure as Hell helps that Tian's grasp of English is excellent, and so she doesn't sound like an actress just reading the dialogue from phonetic cue cards.

Have you seen The Great Wall yet? What did you think? Shout it out in the comments!

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.