THE GREAT WALL

The Great Wall is the story of a big beautiful wall, the best wall – it’s gonna be terrific – built to keep out a swarming horde of foreign bodies. But awkward timing is the least of this epic’s problems. Directed by Zhang Yimou ( Hero), and starring Matt Damon, it re-writes Chinese history as bilingual CGI fantasy; a huge, goofy spectacle whose battle scenes are often fun and striking, but are undercut by a script that’s cheesy and lifeless. Extras are brief and disposable. Stephen Kelly