The Great Wall trailer teases a Matt Damon monster hunt in Ancient China

Legendary Pictures really like themselves a monster movie; In 2014 they brought back Godzilla, and next year they'll be reviving King Kong before having the two creatures square off in a battle royale in 2020. The company is also helping renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou bring monsters to Ancient China in The Great Wall - which "tells the story of an elite force making a valiant stand for humanity" against dangerous creatures - and the first trailer for the 2017 release has made its way online. 

Check it out below...

While the visuals are as spectacular as you might expect from a Yimou film, this trailer really didn't do much for me. My biggest concern lies with the fact that this looks to be yet another white saviour story; I'm a big fan of Matt Damon and I'm relatively sure he'll do a good job in the role, but having him be the hero of a film set in Ancient China is, at best, odd. We'll find out just how out of place Damon looks when the film arrives in cinemas next February.

Directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, and Andy Lau, The Great Wall will be released in US theatres on February 17, 2017 before making its way to the UK a week later on February 24, 2017.

Images: Legendary Pictures/Universal Pictures

Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.