Legendary East, Atlas Entertainment, China Film Group,
Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Hanyu Zhang, Eddie Peng, Lu Han, Gengxin Lin, Kai Zheng, Xuan Huang
William (Matt Demon) is a European mercenary who will fight for whomever offers the most money. He’s on a mission, with some of his men, to find out the truth about the black powder that those in China supposedly have to protect The Great Wall from the Mongols. So they show up just as they Chinese under their commander, Lin Mae (Tian Jing) is about to go into a major battle. They are captured and put into the dungeon, but it turns out the battle is a lot more sinister than the Mongols invading. The Chinese have been hiding that they are actually defending their country from some nasty alien creatures who, if they overtake and conquer the soldiers, will spread over to the whole world. William decides to join the Chinese to fight, and uses his skills to help Lin Mae to destroy the Queen and hopefully win the battle.
This is a very intense action film with great action sequences. It’s an odd story. Some years ago I picked up a science fiction paperback from the 99 cent store and found it to be the story of a modern day man who had the unfortunate incident where he passed through a portal to an iron age, medieval like kingdom in need of a leader, but there was also a pathway to a futuristic society. When I finished the book, I found out it was a trilogy, and I searched a bookstore and found the second novel with ease. When it came time to read the third book in the trilogy though, I was hooked on the story, but quickly found that Tor Books, the publisher had discontinued the book which was out of print, and not available anywhere. I was devastated until my oldest son found a copy in a rare book shop and he bought it for me. That unusual story of three different realities, past, present, and future, reminded me a lot of this film. What appears to be a very decent period piece of life centuries and centuries ago, immediately turns into a futuristic science fiction movie and it blew my mind. The special effects, particularly the alien creatures themselves, are quite impressive, and the battle scenes defending the wall are quite entertaining. The action is fierce and vicious, and it’s certainly very lifelike. I didn’t expect a lot out of this movie, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how really good it was. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and though the theaters had this one in and out in the blink of an eye, for a DVD rental (if anyone still does that anymore) or a streaming evening, it’s very well suited. If the you like Lords and Ladies, Asian customs, and outer space bugs, this one has it all. I promise an interesting evening.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
