Cinematography:
Stephen F. WindonComposer:
Henry JackmanCast:
Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Henwick, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, Regé-Jean Page, Wagner Moura (more)VOD (1)
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The Gray Man is CIA operative Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), aka, Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death. But now the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back. He’ll need it. (Netflix)
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Reviews (13)
Beautiful event led by a poor tram, civilian Gosling and maniacal Evans in seemingly old-fashioned espionage ride - which, however, fails in the scenario so much that I couldn't believe the names of the authors. That this is from the same writers who managed to cleverly, entertainingly and touchingly put together a series of character meetings from different parts of the universe in Avengers? Maybe not. On the other hand, it would explain why the ordinary agents (at that time under supervision) move from one end of the world to the other in a few minutes. It's a shame, the entertainment is pleasantly unrestrained and purely popcorn-like, but unpleasantly often equally stupid.
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Compared to Bourne, The Gray Man is a lot dumber and more B-ish. Compared to Bond, it’s less stylish. Compared to Hunt, it’s less imaginative. But if you throw out the attempts to compare to him the greatest heroes of spy-action movies, he actually doesn't come out nearly as bad. The premise is already a B-movie washout, so it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that the movie will be similarly off. The opening scene in Bangkok would easily stand up to a Bond film, but then it takes almost an hour before anything really interesting and entertaining starts happening. And no, I don’t mean trying to go in depth with flat heroes and trying to describe the behind-the-scenes practices of CIA agents who don't even trust each other. Once the action shifts to Prague, however, and the tram set-piece you couldn't help but read about kicks in, it becomes fully apparent that The Gray Man may have had bigger ambitions, but only on paper. If the film and the audience can come to terms with the fact that it's a big overpriced action B-movie, they can enjoy it as much as I did. The Russo's may go a little overboard with the drones and the stunts could have been better handled, but the action is truly spectacular, imaginative and you can see the budget. Chris Evans is a fine asshole, Ryan Gosling doesn't offend, but it's not his life role, and Ana de Armas relies on acting cute even though she has two rocket launchers on her back and a grenade launcher in her hand. If you find that idea funny and entertaining rather than awkward and ridiculous, chances are you'll enjoy this solid action flick. Netflix may have wanted more, and it's not great by any means. On the other hand, if The Gray Man catches on and we get a sequel, I'll gladly spend those two hours with them again.
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The Gray Man is about as sophisticated as Arnold’s Commando, but the opulent, senseless destruction and action led by the highly amusing Chris "Lloyd" Evans is well worth it. Exotic and more familiar locations run past you like on a conveyor belt. Gosling enjoys his bored, idiosyncratic agent and Billy Bob is pretty fine too. A pleasant Netflix B-movie which is all the better for the fact that I and my family had the chance to watch the best scenes of it being filmed. "Get comfortable" like we're going to Prague, or... or, like, jail comfortable?
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This year's biggest Netflix event could have had bigger ambitions, but for me, it's still a fun spy actioner that I have a soft spot for. Extraction is still one of Netflix's best actioners, and I have 6 Underground above it, thanks to the merit of the R-rating, which Gray Man lacks, and it's a great shame. It doesn't reach the level of MI or Bond, but that doesn't bother me at all, it's still an above average genre flick that reliably entertains for two hours. The Russo Brothers were more impressive in Avengers and I liked a lot Cherry, we'll see what they come up with next, I wish they'd do horror, that could be a nice challenge. Gray Man benefits the most from its attractive cast. Ryan Gosling is a decent hero you can root for, Chris Evans enjoys playing the bad guy, and Ana de Armas is traditionally a hottie. The visuals are fine, though the CGI was occasionally jarring and could have been done a bit better for 200 million, but it didn't downright bother me. The action is decent for a PG-13 rating, and there were some interesting ideas – the red smoke on the plane looked great, the stealth action in the opening was likeable, the fight with the Indian star was awesome, and the whole Prague arc is very cool. I liked that there's a lot of location changes and lots of interesting cities to see. Plot-wise, the film doesn't bring any surprises, but I enjoyed the dialogue – I love that macho banter. The biggest minus is definitely the lack of an R-rating and the sound design of the weapons isn't exactly dazzling, and I won't be rushing out for a second viewing either, but I still enjoyed Gray Man. Definitely better Netflix. Story 3/5. Action 4/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10.
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I promised myself I'd take a break from Netflix movies, but that went out the window as soon as The Gray Man dropped – especially since parts of it were filmed in Prague, which always grabs my attention. Unfortunately, it turned out to be yet another letdown. Despite being directed by the Russo brothers and starring the reliably good Ryan Gosling, a surprisingly demonic Chris Evans, and the always stunning Ana de Armas, the film fell flat. The best moments were those set in Prague, where the filmmakers wreaked havoc like an army marching through Europe. Beyond that, it was a mess. The cinematography was dreadful (except for the drone shots, but any enthusiast could pull those off nowadays), and the action was a jumbled blur. For an action film, it was a disaster to watch. It’s mind-blowing that this film had a bigger budget than the current top-tier Top Gun: Maverick. Clearly, something went very wrong.
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