THE GREAT WALL
Ridiculous fun, with explosive battles and discernment for younger viewers.
Should You Watch It?
If you want a fast, colorful action movie with constant battles and comic banter, The Great Wall delivers. Its mixture of medieval warfare, Chinese culture and science fiction is ridiculous in the best sense. The movie also values sacrifice, prayer, teamwork and turning away from selfishness.
The costs are real but limited. Alien beasts attack soldiers, human characters are killed, and some violence is strong, including creatures eating people and soldiers being impaled or sliced apart. The film also contains eight obscenities, along with anti-capitalist and pro-socialist symbolism favoring the collective.
The answer is straightforward: teenagers and adults, and older children whose parents judge them ready, can have an entertaining time with it.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESWilliam leads a small band of medieval mercenaries into China to steal and smuggle out the recently invented gunpowder. Their plans change when Chinese forces capture them at the Great Wall—and thousands of alien monsters suddenly attack.
As the defenders fight to survive, William finds himself drawn into their desperate battle. The clash forces these selfish outsiders to learn the value of teamwork, sacrifice and serving something larger than themselves.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a good, entertaining film with noticeable weaknesses. The Great Wall is packed with impressive battle sequences, funny asides and lively banter. After a wooden, overly direct opening, the movie loosens up during and after the first major battle and develops a self-aware sense of humor about its own ludicrous situations.
The culture-clash friendship between William and Commander Lin is also handled with respect and never becomes a romance. The film is more like an Indiana Jones adventure than a grim war movie.
Its dialogue is initially expository and stiff, making the film seem destined for mockery. The later energy and humor keep it enjoyable, but the uneven beginning prevents it from becoming more than a solid action romp.
The Worldview
The movie praises sacrifice, teamwork and turning away from selfishness. William and the other Westerners must move away from their individualistic instincts and learn to serve the collective in order to survive. Prayer also receives a positive moral reference.
At the same time, the film includes anti-capitalist and pro-socialist symbolism. It rebukes greed while favoring sacrifice for the collective and the common good. That emphasis can overlap with biblical concern for others, though the movie frames it around collective service rather than explicitly Christian faith.
The film also presents Chinese culture positively, including a woman commander who receives full respect and is not treated as merely a love interest or sex object. Its friendship between William and Commander Lin remains just that, without kissing or romantic or sexual content.
The movie’s call to reject selfishness and help others aligns with Scripture: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light mixed worldview with some moral elements, hero says he once worked for the Pope and his friend says they need time to pray when it appears they’re going to be executed, mixed with some anti-capitalist, pro-socialist symbolism opposing greed and favoring sacrificing for the collective (movie is a Chinese-American production) but also sacrificing for the common good; eight obscenities and no profanities; lots of strong action violence includes numerous battle scenes between Chinese forces on top of and within the Great Wall, rampaging alien beasts, the aliens are four-legged and green with vicious teeth, flaming cannonballs, leaping acrobatic soldiers attached to bungee cords, hundreds of archers shoot arrows are all regular parts of the movie, lead mercenary teaches other soldiers to kill the alien beasts using spears and swords aimed directly at their throats or eyes, one battle scene features beasts getting impaled with arrows and spears and includes green blood flying everywhere, another scene features sharp blades that slice alien bodies in half, a soldier heroically allowing himself to explode using gunpowder to save the day against the beasts via sacrifice, a human soldier is shot in the neck with an arrow, and creatures are seen eating some of the soldiers in quick glimpses; no sex; no nudity; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, greed but it’s rebuked thru the movie’s notion of sacrificing oneself for the collective.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
William and the other mercenaries must turn away from selfishness and learn to work for the common good. What does serving others look like in your family?
Philippians 2:3–4 · Galatians 5:13The film presents sacrifice as heroic. When is sacrifice loving, and what makes it different from seeking praise?
John 15:13 · Matthew 6:1–4The movie includes a positive reference to prayer when the characters believe they may be executed. How can prayer shape us when we are afraid?
Philippians 4:6–7 · Psalm 56:3The story contrasts greed with helping the collective. How should Christians think about possessions and concern for others?
1 Timothy 6:17–19 · 1 John 3:17–18The Final Word
The Great Wall is ridiculous fun: energetic battles, comic banter and a welcome emphasis on sacrifice and teamwork. Its strong action violence and brief language call for discernment with younger viewers. For teenagers and adults, WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP. For younger children, consider our family-friendly picks.
