A new trailer for Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, a fantasy epic set in Medieval China and starring Matt Damon as a mercenary who believes he has finally found "a war worth fighting", has been released.
Filmed entirely in China, the £100 million-plus blockbuster promises breathtaking visuals (check out those dragons!) and a stunning cinematic realisation of China's most famous landmark. While Yimou's film clearly falls into the fantasy genre, this hasn't granted it immunity from accusations of "whitewashing", with some people querying whether a movie set in a quasi-historical China really needs a white lead.
The casting of Damon, who stars in the film alongside the Chinese actress Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones) and Willem Dafoe, caused some controversy earlier this year.Yimou has defended his decision to cast A-lister Damon, and pointed out that the 45-year-old star of the Bourne movies isn't, in fact, Great Wall's lead: instead he's one of four central characters.
“Our film is not about the construction of the Great Wall,” the director said in August. “Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them “ the other four are all Chinese.”
The Great Wall will be released in February 2017. Scan the QR code to watch the trailer.
