08/29/2026
Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal are major worldwide stars today, but it was a steep climb to get there—especially for Pascal. After getting his big breakout in Game of Thrones‘ Season 4 (2014), Pascal started landing more film roles, even if they were supporting roles. In 2016, he got cast in a movie starring none other than Matt Damon, and it wasn’t just any film. Cinema was evolving at the time, as international markets became key for helping films earn hundreds of millions, if not billions. Universal and Legendary Pictures took a bold swing, partnering with half a dozen other studios across America, China, and Japan, to produce a film that was truly a global blockbuster and put Matt Damon front and center in the leading role.
That movie was The Great Wall, a historical fantasy film with a stacked cast. It hit theaters (in China) on December 16, 2016, before coming to US theaters on February 17, 2017. The film was directed by the great Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), and in addition to Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal, it also starred Willem Dafoe, as well as international stars like Andy Lau, Eddie Peng, Jing Tian, Zhang Hanyu, and Lu Han of the K-pop group Exo. But it was the premise of the film that brought a lot of controversy and killed its chances at being a success. But all that seems to be changing now that The Great Wall is streaming on Netflix.
As of writing this, The Great Wall is sitting at #5 in Netflix’s “Top 10” movie rankings. It cannot be stressed enough that this is a big breakout for the film; The Great Wall underperformed at the box office, despite being a major intercontinental production. It earned $334 million against a budget of $150 million. It did even worse with critics, sitting at a paltry 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences didn’t seem to like it any better, as the film only scored a 42% on the Popcornmeter.
The Great Wall was, in fact, a lightning rod for controversy when it came out. The story of the film sees Damon playing “William,” a mercenary who is imprisoned within the Great Wall of China. There, “he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.”
Many saw the film as another “white savior” hero’s tale, at a time when that kind of trope was really being re-evaluated and questioned. It was also a case of ‘too many cooks’ in the kitchen; The Great Wall tried to appeal to different audiences all over the globe by seemingly offering a mix of Eastern and Western cinematic styles. Universal didn’t know how to market the film, leaning into the historical drama as if it were a swords-and-sandals prestige film. In actuality, The Great Wall was something very different, which is why it’s probably performing much better with audiences now, a decade later.
In reality, The Great Wall was never about the history of China or its Great Wall: it was an action-fantasy film that mixed real martial arts and ancient warfare with magic and sorcery for a story that is unabashedly steeped in Eastern fantasy tropes. In 2026, audiences are far more receptive to live-action fantasy films again, and the line between Eastern and Western entertainment has all gotten a lot thinner, as anime has risen to worldwide prominence and international films are much more mainstream (from martial arts to Oscar-winning dramas like Parasite). Now, The Great Wall looks more like a pioneer, a harbinger of where blockbuster films were going in the next decade.
That’s exactly what I said in my review at the time: “Nobody ever said being a trailblazer was glorious or pretty—but at least The Great Wall gets the latter right.” I also stated that “The directorial work of House of Flying Daggers’ Yimou Zhang, The Great Wall, is a visually spectacular and thrilling action movie experience—which doesn’t save it from often being incredibly silly and hokey, as well." Still, if nothing else, the film is an intriguing example of blockbuster moviemaking now truly being done on a global scale—but like most bold prototypes, it’s not without its flaws.”
I stand by those words ten years later, and you probably will too if you stream The Great Wall on Netflix.
