The Great Wall | Rotten Tomatoes

The Great Wall

PG-13

Released Feb 17, 2017

1 hr. 44 min.

Adventure

Action

Fantasy

TRAILER

for The Great Wall: Trailer 2

List

35%

238 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When a mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within the Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

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Premiered Feb 06

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Stefan V

This is a stupid movie. It reminds me of my cooking during the student years; bad, mismatched ingredients, no idea of what the result should be and ending up using all the spices I had, in way too big quantities. I feel bad for the actors and actresses. Well, I feel bad for everyone involved.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/21/24

Full Review

Pedro Henrique C

The Great Wall has a confusing story but it has some good action scenes, the CGI, my God, is horror lol

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

Full Review

alan g

A historical fantasy that actually hits the mark. Competant acting. A good Buddy movie. A lort of fun.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/18/24

Full Review

My - Ngoaingu N

I think it's good, at least it's much better than what I expected when I saw the rating. I love the way they fight, the strategy in battles. It is underrated due to the Sinophobia, i guess.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/24

Full Review

Melissa T

I thought it was an amazing movie. Ancient asian fantasy crossed with lizard monsters. I love how it showed the Great Wall in a creative new light. Definitely one of my husbands favorites.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/14/24

Full Review

Test T

Most critics don't seem to like this one, but when I watched it on DVD recently I loved it. I thought the legend of the ancient Chinese army using their great wall to defend against magnet averse monsters was really good. The film has both ambition and scale, and is full of impressive imagery befitting a true Holywood blockbuster. As if the recreation of The Great Wall of China were not enough, the audience is spoilt by an array of fascinating ancient Chinese weaponry, countless blood thirsty monsters, and a fleet of hot air baloons all acompanied by catchy and motivational musical score in awesome digital cinema surround sound. The battle drums sounded particularly impressive on my system. Matt Damon does a great job playing the lead, except he seems to have acquired an Irish accent which is a little odd! That aside there is never a dull moment as the movie progresses at pace delivering a variety of immersive action scenes to thrill and entertain. I thoroughly recommend this movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/10/23

Full Review

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Yimou Zhang

Director

Matt Damon

William Garin

Jing Tian

Commander Lin Mae

Pedro Pascal

Pero Tovar

Willem Dafoe

Ballard

Andy Lau

Strategist Wang

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The Great Wall: Official Clip - Death Blades and Harpoons

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Close Combat

2:55

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Archery Test

2:01

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Nighttime Trap

2:55

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Fighting Blind

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - The Cadet's Sacrifice

2:03

The Great Wall: Official Clip - The First Attack

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Balloon Attack

2:19

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Killing the Queen

2:42

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Learning to Trust

2:42

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The Great Wall: Trailer 2

2:21

The Great Wall: Trailer 1

1:31

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Kambole Campbell

One Room With A View

A sometimes entertaining, but otherwise forgettable two hours, The Great Wall sounds cool on paper, but feels more like a business deal than a complete film.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Scott Tobias

Uproxx

The Great Wall gives one of the world's great visual filmmakers $150 million and an army of extras at his disposal, and he turns a monument into a playground.

Oct 10, 2017

Full Review

Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

Zhang's moments of visual splendor-a battalion of hot-air balloonists, the queen-monster and her royal guard of fan-frilled monstrosities-are weighed down by a script and performances almost dutiful in their dullness.

Mar 27, 2017

Full Review

Victoria Luxford

City AM

With a ponytail and dodgy accent, Damon fits awkwardly into the mix, putting in one of the most uneven performances of his career. The fact a Western actor is leading an Asian film should be uncomfortable, but in a film this bad, its hard to care.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 21, 2022

Full Review

Drew Dietsch

FANDOM

The Great Wall is the equivalent of a well-made toy movie. It's a feast for the imagination, but your heart and brain will check out after a while.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 29, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

All in all, it's just another brick in the wall of cinematic stinkers.

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 17, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

When a mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within the Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

Director: Yimou Zhang
Executive Producer: Jillian Share, Alex Gartner, E. Bennett Walsh, La Peikang, Zhao Zhang
Screenwriter: Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Tony Gilroy
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Legendary Pictures, Universal Pictures, Atlas Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Fantasy Action Violence)
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 17, 2017, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $45.1M
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos

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