Alien at the Movies

In the spirit of "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies", the "House of Flying Daggers" filmmakers have crafted a historical period action drama/monster movie hybrid. So, this is "Hero" meets "Jurassic Park" when a Marco Polo/Hawkeye mercenary (Matt Damon) & his Spaniard partner travel to China in search of the rumored mysterious black powder. Captured by the Chinese army stationed at the Great Wall, they must choose to stay & fight or escape when an enemy attacks. In this alternate universe, the wall was built to keep out something far more crafty, powerful, & dangerous than the Mongol hordes. The women march shoulder-to-shoulder with the men & can even command the troops in this non-chauvinistic empire. The spectacular battle scenes are a mixture of "300", "Cirque du Soleil", & sophisticated primitive weaponry. With the Great Wall as the backdrop, the film feels quite epic with the massive sets & thousands of troops battling a huge overwhelming cyclic onslaught of intelligent & deadly beings. Just sit back, hang on, & enjoy this fantasy action thriller. All of the major characters conveniently converse in English with subtitles to fill in for the rest of the cast. 

Alien gives it 3½  "magnetic control" stars out of 4.