The Great Wall Review: 6 Ups & 5 Downs

1. It's One Of Zhang Yimou's Worst Films

The one thing that gave people hope for this movie was the presence of Zhang Yimou, the director of beloved films such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower, to name just a few.

While Yimou acquits himself just fine, it's safe to say that the rather low-effort script makes him unable to craft a film that truly lives up to his past successes.

Basically, it feels like a hack-for-hire job, one Yimou pulls off gracefully to his credit, but a stronger script could've made much, much better use of his inimitable talents.

Critics seem to largely agree on the whole: of his 20+ films to date, The Great Wall is his second-worst-reviewed, sitting at around the 35% mark at the time of press.

All this said, the film isn't without its pleasures, and so here's everything that made The Great Wall totally worth watching...

Ups...

6. It Doesn't Take Itself Seriously. At All.

The movie's greatest asset bar none is that it doesn't even begin to pretend it's a serious epic about man staring down beast.

Unlike many of Yimou's previous films, this is an unapologetically ridiculous film that also wears its silliness on its sleeve.

The script doubles down on the cheesy one-liners and it's clear that the cast are having a lot of fun with it, which if you're in the mood for a corny B-movie, can make this quite the entertaining experience indeed.

Regardless of whether you actively like it, it's a difficult movie to truly hate because it's so light and easy to watch.