The poster teases, "What were they trying to keep out [by building the Great Wall of China]?" but the intrigue ends very early on in this Matt Damon-helmed fantasy action when the gnashing dog beasts, the Tao Tei, are revealed and then shown over and over and over again, with every subsequent shot of a dog beast leaping forward into a 'mouth spear' further deadening your interest, and nor is your interest likely to be kindled by scenes of political friction between Damon's European mercenary (in China in search of gunpowder) and Jing Tian's Commander Lin - back and forth, back and forth they go: are they allies or are they enemies? - for these scenes exist simply to break up the monotony of the monster wave attacks...and myriad weapons (fiery cannonballs, bungee ropes, big scissors and bedsheets fashioned into wonky balloons) also fail to recapture the wonder of that teaser question.
★★☆☆☆
CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEW
