Not so great after all. Review by Brandon Wolfe The Great Wall is a joint venture between the United States and China, the largest such co-production ever undertaken. It was shot in China, features a predominately Chinese cast and was helmed by a noted Chinese director, Zhang Yimou. This pedigree serves, perhaps, to make the film seem more exotic and culturally distinguished than your average bonehead American blockbuster. Alas, it isn’t. The Far East influences do nothing to elevate The Great Wall above the shallow marker of inert, big-budget spectacle. Either the Chinese film industry has the same penchant for laziness that ours does or maybe we dragged them down to our level when forces were joined. At some indeterminate point in the Song Dynasty, a group of mercenaries are searching for the mythic weapon “black powder” (gunpowder to us modern types) while evading Khitan bandits. One night, a strange creature attacks the party, leaving only William (Matt Damon) and Tovar (Pe...