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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am
Posts: 34865
Location: Maryland
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 Re: The Great Wall A large, cultural-synthesis-minded production results, sadly, in a mediocre film in The Great Wall. The two primary talents—Matt Damon in front of the camera and director Zhang Yimou behind it—are both poorly suited for the material. This is Damon's least comfortable performance in a long time, perhaps ever, with his oddly unidentifiable (Irish-Texan?) accent, unflattering long hair, and unpersuasive slow-motion archery. His pro-forma hero's journey—the Western mercenary who fights for wealth and gunpowder, but finds a higher purpose in the East—is a dramatic nonentity. And Zhang plays recognizable notes of pageantry as patriotism, conjuring a few moments of genuine awe as lavishly color-coded soldiers march in formation and the swirling camera surveys the enormity of the titular structure, but he has no clue how to respond to the film's creature-feature heart. The lime-green, dinosaur- or dog-esque antagonists are a total dud: foolish in appearance; repetitive and simplistic in their behavior despite the human characters repeatedly proclaiming how intelligent and cunning they are; never remotely frightening; and hilariously explained via groan-worthy, elliptical exposition (a comet turned a mountain green, and they are a manifestation of man's greed, and...move on now). How unspectacular they are counteracts other truly spectacular elements of the film's art direction and costume design.
C
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:58 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
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Location: Bright Falls
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Re: The Great Wall And what did you think of the film's score?
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:12 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
Posts: 67043
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Re: The Great Wall David wrote: and hilariously explained via groan-worthy, elliptical exposition (a comet turned a mountain green, and they are a manifestation of man's greed, and...move on now). That's how legends are. They are stories, created around camp fires, to engage and excite children. I think you're being overly harsh with this criticism. Things in The Bible are also thinly explained. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:17 am |
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_axiom
The Wall
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:50 am
Posts: 16163
Location: Croatia
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Re: The Great Wall Algren wrote: David wrote: and hilariously explained via groan-worthy, elliptical exposition (a comet turned a mountain green, and they are a manifestation of man's greed, and...move on now). That's how legends are. They are stories, created around camp fires, to engage and excite children. I think you're being overly harsh with this criticism. Things in The Bible are also thinly explained. Bible is a really bad fantasy book.
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 3:29 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall _axiom wrote: Algren wrote: David wrote: and hilariously explained via groan-worthy, elliptical exposition (a comet turned a mountain green, and they are a manifestation of man's greed, and...move on now). That's how legends are. They are stories, created around camp fires, to engage and excite children. I think you're being overly harsh with this criticism. Things in The Bible are also thinly explained. Bible is a really bad fantasy book. And yet millions not only love it but live their lives by it. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 3:36 am |
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_axiom
The Wall
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:50 am
Posts: 16163
Location: Croatia
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Re: The Great Wall #people
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:02 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall David wrote: The lime-green, dinosaur- or dog-esque antagonists are a total dud: foolish in appearance; repetitive and simplistic in their behavior despite the human characters repeatedly proclaiming how intelligent and cunning they are They tricked the humans at every turn, especially with their final move of occupying the humans with fighting so they could secretly dig a tunnel under the wall and get a direct line/head start to the capital. They also out-played the humans when killing Zhang Hanyu's character. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:10 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:19 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am
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Location: Maryland
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Re: The Great Wall Algren wrote: David wrote: The lime-green, dinosaur- or dog-esque antagonists are a total dud: foolish in appearance; repetitive and simplistic in their behavior despite the human characters repeatedly proclaiming how intelligent and cunning they are They tricked the humans at every turn, especially with their final move of occupying the humans with fighting so they could secretly dig a tunnel under the wall and get a direct line/head start to the capital. They also out-played the humans when killing Zhang Hanyu's character. Yes, I know. The tunnel. But it just plays as a plot device. The writers saying, "Damn, we can't just do another variation on the siege. How do we get the monsters to another place?" It does not ring true on a deeper level. I did not believe those animals dug such a big, tidily sculpted tunnel. The creatures are just so dull in general (and poorly digitally rendered for such a lavish production). They never register as cunning foes or particularly creepy or in any way interesting. _________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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| Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:17 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall David wrote: Algren wrote: David wrote: The lime-green, dinosaur- or dog-esque antagonists are a total dud: foolish in appearance; repetitive and simplistic in their behavior despite the human characters repeatedly proclaiming how intelligent and cunning they are They tricked the humans at every turn, especially with their final move of occupying the humans with fighting so they could secretly dig a tunnel under the wall and get a direct line/head start to the capital. They also out-played the humans when killing Zhang Hanyu's character. Yes, I know. The tunnel. But it just plays as a plot device. The writers saying, "Damn, we can't just do another variation on the siege. How do we get the monsters to another place?" It does not ring true on a deeper level. I did not believe those animals dug such a big, tidily sculpted tunnel. The creatures are just so dull in general (and poorly digitally rendered for such a lavish production). They never register as cunning foes or particularly creepy or in any way interesting. We'll have to agree to disagree then, because I think the story of their existence alone makes them interesting. Their design, their combat intelligence, the way to kill them, their relationship with magnetised objects etc. is all very interesting and unique. They are not creepy, sure, but they certainly register as an impending and unstoppable force that the humans are hopeless in knowing how to defeat, and I liked that about them. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:25 am |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am
Posts: 18880
Location: San Diego
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Re: The Great Wall Not particularly good but I kinda enjoyed it.
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| Sat Feb 18, 2017 3:55 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall Have some balls, sheep!  You kinda enjoyed it, so it is kinda good. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Sat Feb 18, 2017 6:19 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall Just me, stuffp, Jack Sparrow, Riggs, Dr. Lecter, publicenemy#1, and David have seen the film. Seven people! Damn this site's members for ever calling themselves films fans.  _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 5:59 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
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Location: Bright Falls
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Re: The Great Wall I'm very surprised by its +18m weekend opening actually.
Got a lot more interest around certain demographics than I expected.
It makes it the highest grossing opening weekend for a foreign film, which is fair to be looked at as I think.
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:20 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall Whether it's "foreign" could be argued, but I think only foreign language films are considered foreign. I know its production was mainly Chinese, but this is considered a joint venture. It is no more "foreign" than The Last Samurai, and that out-opened this.
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:48 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
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Re: The Great Wall Yeah, agree that it shouldn't be considered on a different scale than The Last Samurai box office wise. Quality wise, The Last Samurai towers over it though.
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:32 am |
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nghtvsn
Extraordinary
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:13 pm
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Location: Warren Theatre Oklahoma
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Re: The Great Wall GREAT WALL
Missed opportunity for a cool fantasy epic action film. First that horrible accent on Damon was just crazy. Nonsense. Terrible. His partner was annoying as hell and terrible. Just horrible. All the asian principals were good. I liked the female, the general and the other generals, the young soldier and even the emperor. The first major sequence at the wall with the creatures was a nice action sequence but they really messed themselves up with the limit to 3 different creatures. Why do that? They should have got bigger and better and more unique. More creatures were needed. The final defeat of the creatures was just lazy. Nasty lazy nonsense. Overall, I liked the action, the costumes, the look of the film but could have done without the horrible accent, the partner and flimsy story in what could have been a truly entertaining fantasy film.
Grade - C
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:47 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall stuffp wrote: Quality wise, The Last Samurai towers over it though. Oh, definitely. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:30 pm |
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Algren
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Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall nghtvsn wrote: they really messed themselves up with the limit to 3 different creatures. Why do that? They should have got bigger and better and more unique. I don't get this part of your review. There is just one creature, and a Queen. Not three different creatures. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:31 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
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Re: The Great Wall I think he's referring to "the scout", "the regular one" and the Queen I guess.
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:37 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
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Re: The Great Wall
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:38 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall stuffp wrote: I think he's referring to "the scout", "the regular one" and the Queen I guess. What do you mean, the scout and the regular one? I didn't notice any differences in all the creatures that were not the Queen. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:39 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:39 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
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Re: The Great Wall Algren wrote: stuffp wrote: I think he's referring to "the scout", "the regular one" and the Queen I guess. What do you mean, the scout and the regular one? I didn't notice any differences in all the creatures that were not the Queen. Yeah, I don't think they were ever explicitly explained. Just from the beginning when they said something like "Oh, you just killed a scout, there's badder boys out there", but later on I don't remember (anymore) seeing any difference among them. It's been 2 months since I've seen it, so I don't remember the different creatures and abilities so well anymore.
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:49 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
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Re: The Great Wall stuffp wrote: Algren wrote: stuffp wrote: I think he's referring to "the scout", "the regular one" and the Queen I guess. What do you mean, the scout and the regular one? I didn't notice any differences in all the creatures that were not the Queen. Yeah, I don't think they were ever explicitly explained. Just from the beginning when they said something like "Oh, you just killed a scout, there's badder boys out there", but later on I don't remember (anymore) seeing any difference among them. It's been 2 months since I've seen it, so I don't remember the different creatures and abilities so well anymore. But being a scout doesn't qualify it as being a "different creature". I mean, humans have different careers and roles in society, but they're still all human. I just don't get what nghtvsn means, and maybe I missed something in the film so I would like him to clarify. _________________STOP UIGHUR GENOCIDE IN XINJIANG
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| Tue Feb 21, 2017 11:17 pm |
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