海角大神

China's epic 'Great Wall' blockbuster draws epic criticism, and officials are not pleased

'The Great Wall' is the largest ever US-China co-production. The official People's Daily ran an op-ed that lambasted film critics' disdain for the film, but then softened their take in a commentary the following day.

Qi Ying had high expectations when she went to see 鈥淭he Great Wall,鈥� the epic fantasy film starring Matt Damon and directed by Zhang Yimou, one of China鈥檚 most acclaimed filmmakers. But she left the theater disappointed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a good movie, but it鈥檚 not a bad movie either,鈥� Ms. Qi says while waiting outside a theater in central Beijing to see another film. 鈥淥verall I wasn鈥檛 that impressed.鈥�

Qi鈥檚 underwhelming review is not what the creators of 鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� want to hear. With a budget of more than $150 million, the film is the largest-ever US-China co-production and the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China.

Still, Qi was more generous than online critics, many of whom have expressed deep disappointment in the film鈥檚 thin plot and Mr. Zhang鈥檚 turn from low-budget art films to Hollywood-style blockbusters. Some have also complained that the Chinese cast were shortchanged on screen time, while the nods to Chinese culture were superficial at best. One amateur critic went as far as to declare that 鈥淶hang Yimou is dead!鈥� on the Sina Weibo microblog.聽On , a popular movie review site, 鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� had a score of 4.9 out of 10 as of Tuesday.

鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� is the first major test for Legendary East, the Hollywood studio bought last year聽by Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin. It鈥檚 also a test for the Chinese film industry as a whole as it tries to garner international appeal and prove that it too can make high-budget action hits.

鈥淭his film is certainty a good experiment,鈥� says Raymond Zhou, a senior writer for China Daily and one of China鈥檚 most well-known film critics. 鈥淏ut the truth is that there might not be a secret formula for a global hit. Hitting the bullseye in multiple countries could be an impossible task.鈥�

Mythical monsters on a Great Wall

Set in ancient China, 鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� follows William Garin (Mr. Damon), a European mercenary who helps an army of elite soldiers on the Great Wall fight a horde of mythical monsters. It also features Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, and a host of Chinese stars, including Andy Lau, Jing Tian, and the pop idol Lu Han.

The film鈥檚 first three weeks in China have been mixed. While it did manage to climb past the symbolic 1 billion renminbi ($150 million) mark over the weekend, analysts attribute its continued success to weaker-than-expected competition rather than its quality. Many have been unimpressed by turnout given the massive marketing push it received and the high expectations that preceded its release. The film remains far short of the $200 million聽box office threshold Legendary East ultimately hopes to hit in China.

Criticism of 鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� and two other much-anticipated releases has been so harsh that the People鈥檚 Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece, published a guest op-ed last week聽on its mobile platform claiming that 鈥溾�� review websites were damaging the reputation of the domestic film industry. Chinese media reported that the article, written by a contributor named Zeng Kai, drew heavily from a piece published in China Film News by another contributor named Hao Jiemei.

鈥淯nder the guidance of low ratings, audiences may feel disappointed at domestic films,鈥� the article says. 鈥淪ome will even refuse to watch them.鈥�

The article singled out Douban and Maoyan, another popular review site. It accused them of promoting 鈥渧icious and irresponsible statements to attract readers, fans, and web traffic, which has seriously damaged the ecosystem for Chinese cinema.鈥�

The article sparked a fiery online debate about a string of recent high-profile flops that the film industry had hoped would help salvage an otherwise forgettable year at the box office. Many social media users responded to it by arguing that Mr. Zeng misdirected his blame at reviewers and websites instead of the films themselves.

Aside from 鈥淭he Great Wall,鈥� moviegoers were widely unimpressed by Jackie Chan鈥檚 new action-comedy 鈥淩ailroad Tigers鈥� and the romantic comedy 鈥淪ee You Tomorrow.鈥�

Jonathan Landreth, managing editor of the online magazine ChinaFile and creator of the website , says the People鈥檚 Daily incident reveals the need for the Chinese film industry to be more open to criticism.

鈥淚f China's film industry leaders are to have any realistic hope of sending their films far and wide,鈥� he says in an email, 聽鈥渢hey must insist on a culture of film reviewing independent of government interference that will help both the audience and industry grow and improve."

(The People鈥檚 Daily聽聽the day after the controversial article ran, calling for similar openness and appearing to pull back from its earlier harsh warnings.)

The debate over online reviews comes amid reports of a stalling Chinese film industry. Box office sales grew by 3 percent last year, far lower than the 49 percent surge in 2015 and the first year in more than a decade that there's been only single-digit growth.

Film industry analysts say the government鈥檚 crackdown on inflated box office figures contributed to the drop, as did China鈥檚 broader economic slowdown.聽The downward trend appears likely to continue in 2017. Ticket sales over the three-day New Year鈥檚 holiday were down 22 percent from last year, a slow start for the world鈥檚 second largest film industry.

鈥淚 think it's safe to say that the decade of double-digit growth at China's box office is over,鈥� Mr. Landreth says. 鈥淚t'll still outpace North American ticket sales in years to come, but China's big growth spurt in theatrical exhibition is finished for now.鈥�

鈥淭he Great Wall鈥� is scheduled for release in North America on Feb. 17.

鈥� Xiaoji Qiang contributed reporting.