Well, not armies but the army, preparing since she could speak for the coming Tao Tei attack. And like William, Lin has fought in armies since age 5. Perhaps also because he singlehandedly killed one of the ferocious Tao Tei ravaging northern China. She opens the movie leading the all-female branch of wall divers who leap from platforms 60 feet high, armed only with spears, and attached to the wall only with pulley-affixed ropes.įor reasons of casting and finance, Lin takes to William. Lin speaks English, helpful for the audience, because a 25-year English resident taught it to her. Stone-faced in the midst of a deadly struggle, Lin never shows fear, never questions authority, and always knows exactly how best to face danger. Commander, and eventually General Lin is far more heroic than anything William has ever achieved. William might be the protagonist, but he is not the hero. William chooses to stay, and the battle is partly won.
During the battle, he walks away from the wall’s ramparts, but he pauses, contemplates this moment, when he will make a life-altering decision. It’s a very bad plan, yes, but that’s not why William abandons it. He and his buddy Tovar are wrapped in a plot to steal black powder and escape the wall while another battle rages. That conversation changes William’s views. William counters, “I’m alive today because I trust no one.” As Lin puts it, he has fought “for many flags.” Later, shows William that one can fight for trust, fight for one’s country. It seems that Lin wants to learn more about this strange white man.Īfter the first battle William and Lin eat in the large mess hall inside the wall. Lin distrusts William from the moment she spots him, yet she keeps him in mind throughout the movie. He soon becomes the apple of the eye of Lin ( Tian Jing), for reasons unknown. I guess we have to pretend William is the hero. The Great Wall is immediately Damon’s movie, if only by contract and not by force of acting. He’s in chains when the monsters first attack, but through guile and world-class archery accuracy he gains some admiration of the Chinese. William walks alongside the Order’s top brass, though no one trusts him far enough to throw him off the wall. (If you can tell me where Matt Damon unearthed his accent I’d be in your debt.) It gets worse that night, when an unseen creature attacks William and his traveling companions, which William kills with a few sword slices, leaving only its clawed arm. The arm is enough to allow William and his friend Tovar ( Pedro Pascal) entrance amongst the Nameless Order, an enormous army patrolling the Great Wall of China, and an audience with its general. It’s bad times for the European named William ( Matt Damon).
Hero (5/10)Ĭenturies ago, some Europeans tried to enter China and steal a perhaps-mythical substance known as “black powder.” Chased by local hill tribes, the Europeans encamp in a desert, with no food, medicine, or maps to escape their predicament. ONE SENTENCE PLOT SUMMARY: The Great Wall, the soldiers guarding it, and Matt Damon protect China from being eaten by space monsters. The Great Wall of China was built for many reasons, but keeping out the Tao Tei was the big one. These creatures were sent to remind humans “what happens when greed is unchecked.” And also to eat them.įortunately for humanity, the Tao Tei only descend their mountain in 60-year intervals. It also created and unleashed the Tao Tei, ferocious creatures that prey on humanity. Two thousand years ago, in China’s north, a meteor crashed into a mountain, turning it an ominous green.