THE GREAT WALL | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE GREAT WALL"
(2017) (Matt Damon, Tian Jing) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Action: Two 12th century European mercenaries find themselves among Chinese military forces trying to protect the Great Wall from increasing attacks by hordes of massive monsters.

PLOT:

William Garin (MATT DAMON) and Pero Tovar (PEDRO PASCAL) are 12th century European mercenaries who've traveled to China in search of a new weapon they've heard about but never seen -- black powder. After escaping from armed men, their small group comes under attack by some sort of monster, with only William and Pero surviving, thanks to the former managing to kill the beast. But when they're chased again by armed men, they end up confronted by the more heavily armed forces of The Nameless Order.

They're a military forced led by General Shao (HANYU ZHANG) and his right-hand lieutenant, Commander Lin Mae (TIAN JING), that's been tasked with protecting The Great Wall -- a massive and tall structure that stretches for thousands of miles -- from an opponent that apparently attacks around every sixty years. Unluckily for William and Pero who are now prisoners there, it's time for the arrival of the much-feared Tao Teis, huge dinosaur-like monsters with highly adaptive intelligence, that are ruled by a queen creature.

When the attack occurs, another European man, Ballard (WILLEM DAFOE), who's been there for twenty-five years frees the two mercenaries who engage in battle alongside their Chinese counterparts, mainly to save their own hides. But their actions and heroics aren't lost on Shao or Lin, and the two are accepted into the militarized community but, like Ballard, will never be free to leave.

With strategist Wang (ANDY LAU) realizing that a large magnet William possessed seems to make the monsters docile, Lin and the rest try to come up with a new battle plan using that intel. As they await their chance to use that in their next defense of the wall, William must decide whether to stay and battle with them or covertly escape with Pero and Ballard.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: The humans vs. monsters story angle might entice some, while those who are fans of anyone in the cast might be interested as well.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For sequences of fantasy action violence.

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