The Great Wall not so great

I saw this and I got to tell you I've been trying to figure out why. Not necessarily because of the actors, I mean they can only work with what they get, but because I thought the premise was sort of absurd.
The idea that creatures like this could exist only in China and no where else kind of feeds into the whole "mysterious Orient" kind of thing.

Weekend Box Office: 'The Great Wall,' 'Cure for Wellness' Crumbling in U.S. Debut

The big-budget epic, from Legendary Pictures and Universal, earned $6.8 million on Friday, including $970,000 in Thursday previews, for a projected debut of $19 million from 3,325 theaters over the four-day Presidents Day weekend. That's a poor start considering the movie's $150 million production budget. 

The Great Wall, skewered by critics and earning a mediocre B CinemaScore from audiences, is billed as the first English-language production shot entirely in China. The story centers on European mercenaries searching for black powder who become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures. Damon stars along with Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau.
The movie, which will open to No. 3 in North America, has done giant-sized business in China, where it has earned $171 million (it has earned another $54 million in other foreign markets to date).

It's not that I'm opposed to "mysterious Orient" type of stories if they're told well but this one was just bizarre. Like China was so far away it was more like an alien planet.
It seems good movies are becoming a rarity.