Andy Lau, one of Asian cinema's most charismatic actors, is particularly wasted, reduced to pointing at things and spouting exposition. The focus on Damon and his globetrotting vocal inflections leaves the other characters as cyphers. At the same time, however, the westerners are mercenary plunderers trying to run off with the secrets of gunpowder that the Chinese wish to protect. Damon and his western buddies are presented as white saviours, like the awkward moment they're given a standing ovation for their part in a battle in which the real work was done by scores of unnamed and unheralded Chinese foot soldiers. One of the big concerns before release was the presence of western actors in a Chinese story, raising worries of whitewashing. And the film squanders an opportunity to do something cool with 3D, in sequences explaining Chinese history with watercolour-style animation that could have really popped off the screen but remain flat and inert. Damon's tortuous accent and the constant need for translation between factions renders the stilted dialogue even more belaboured. The mythical beasts assailing the wall are kind of boring in that glossy CGI way, with no real personality and not one but two overly convenient weaknesses. Nothing else really fires on all cylinders. Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon, man-bunned mercenaries.

The great wall movie