The Grey Man (2022)
The uncatchable meets the unstoppable.
I’m not really one for spy flicks, but this one had a pretty nice cast listing to it and bragged about having more action - and that’s speaking my language. Sneaking, subterfuge shenanigans can only keep my attention for so long, so I tend to stay away from the likes of the double Ohs unless I’m in a particular mood for their sass-filled attitudes and over-the-top evil villains. Well, only time will tell if I’ve made a misjudgement in the choice of movie tonight - let’s go and check out The Grey Man.
I’ll be pretty honest here - this story isn’t really anything new. We have our main who works for a secret program for the government, an “expendable asset” if you will. Things aren’t as they seem though, and upon a complicated take down of his target, he finds out that the new regime moving in with the CIA might be deciding his program is a liability and needs to be expended at a much quicker rate. Having now come into proof and knowledge of these shady dealings within an already shady group, he knows he’s already in trouble and needs to figure out how to deal with this problem that’s fallen upon his head. This gets further complicated when the Heads bring in an absolutely unhinged sociopath to track him down and take him out, and the usual levels of “who can be trusted” get’s slapped right up on top of it.
The characters aren’t really a ton to right home about. Yes, the main has some background development to help flesh him out, but there’s more effort put into the circumstances and events than there is into the development of characters past their quirks and traits. That said, the characters do a good job of emphasizing their traits through their actions and words, even if that does just boil down to being a very dangerous lunatic or spiteful lady, or even assassin with honor. There’s enough to the main character where you don’t entirely not care about what hes doing and why - and the main lady lead also gets a bit of a time to shine here and there with their interactions, but as long as you go in expecting it to be serviceable and not excellent you’ll at worst be pleasantly surprised in the moments when character do impress.
The actors, though constrained by the shells of the characters they are contained within, do a good job. There’s a bit of a physical gear-works on the body language side that helps imply moods and thought paths on the characters thanks to the acting that could otherwise be lost if they didn’t do as good a job. It’s also nice to see someone like Evans doing a bit of a more loose-cannon evil character after being wrapped up in Captain America’s do-good shoes for so long. Gosling does a good job of selling his characters condition and various levels of wear and tear from his ordeals, even if people are just used to him being a pretty face. Ana also gets to have her share of screen time to kick butt and help facilitate things moving along.
Almost looks like Blade Runner
Things are put together quite well here. I won’t say there isn’t some hectic cuts during fight scenes, or that everything is super bright and easy to see but it’s still pretty good. For something that at times will feel sort of muted in colors, other times things really pop. The camerawork is usually quite on point, and editing likes to keep things interesting even if it trips up a little here and there with the cuts and dark scenes getting combined for a bit of murk on the viewers end of things. It’s not super bad - this isn’t Liam crossing a fence - but it’s worth pointing out to some extent regardless you know? I guess the big take-away here is that for all the moments where it could pass as any other movie, it has other moments that really do add a little extra pizazz.
The fight scenes and effects are handled well. Things feel efficient, brutal, or hectic as it’s wanted. Escalation of events is totally a thing as well - by the end it kind of goes a bit nuts. We get some in close shots, we get some nice further out shots, we get some smooth longer takes and we get some quick punchy takes with a bunch of cuts. There’s a bunch of gun play, there’s plenty fo knife fights and fisticuffs. As far as action goes, the movie is pretty on point with plenty of set pieces and action types - so for a person who went in wanting a bunch of action, I got exactly what I wanted. Yes, it’s not quite as fine-tuned and sleek as something like John Wick, but it’s still quite fun to watch.
Audio is well balanced. As normal, I don’t remember any of the music afterwards, but it does it’s job of setting and helping support scenes. Line deliveries are done well, and it really doesn’t feel like anyone is phoning it in - if someone sounds tired, it’s generally because the character seems like they should be exhausted. There is a few different spot that people could try to deep-think about things in the movie - such as workplace harassment and general black mail - but I wouldn’t go out of my way to really sell this as the sort of movie that has a lot to think about over it being an action fest.
Someone tires of my Blade Runner joke.
I enjoyed the movie. It’s a nice little blend of that modern Wick and old school Arnold style action flicks. The plot is about as elaborate as it needs to be, although perhaps a little less than it tried to be - but functions fine enough to allow the movie to happen without being confusing. If you want a bit of a Jason Bourne experience with some different actors and a bit steadier camera it’s probably not a bad option in all honesty. For me, it gave me a good number of fun action scenes without really dropping below mediocre in any of the other departments, so I’d say it fun enough to check out.