When I first saw the trailer for The Great Wall, I was confused. What was Matt Damon doing in a movie about the Great Wall? What is this movie even about? I was a little skeptical as I walked into the theater, but all of my concerns were quickly washed away.

The movie is based on the adventures of William (Matt Damon) and Tovar (Pedro Pascal) as they head to China in the hopes of obtaining the mysterious black powder capable of turning air into fire. Their endeavors take a sudden turn when they surrender to the Chinese at the base of the Great Wall. The story takes off from there, as William teams up with Commander Lin Mae (Tian Jing) in the fight against the mystical beasts known as the ‘Tao Tei’.

Despite the #thanksmattdamon going around about the buzz of this movie, mocking Damon’s role in a movie about the Great Wall of China, Damon delivered a great performance. Damon was able to capture all sides of his character William, from the precise and fierce warrior to the witty strategist and so much more, it was all portrayed in a memorable manor.

I am often skeptical when movies like this come out. So much of an adventure movie relies on special effects that, if not perfect, can look comical and ultimately ruin the effect and quality of a movie. This was not a problem in The Great Wall. The special effects were, for the most part, spectacular. The beasts looked great and about as realistic as, well, mythical beasts can look.

One of the best elements of the movie was its unpredictable nature. Right when I thought something was about to happen, something completely unexpected would. This added a whole new dimension to the movie and made it more exciting.

Another great part about the movie is that there is no shortage of action. After a quick title sequence, the movie starts in an intense chase scene in which the main characters are introduced. From then on, there is no relaxing in your chair as the action and suspense only pulls you closer to the screen.

All that action, however, means a lot of fighting. Although there is no extremely graphic violence and no injury is shown on screen for an extensive amount of time, this movie definitely has some violence. I would not recommend it for anyone who is disapproving of movie violence–like a family with young children.

The movie ends with… well I’m not gonna say, but it is definitely worth the two hours to find out. All in all, I thought the movie was great and would give it a solid ⅘.