In "The Gray Man", it seems that the Russo Brothers totally forgot they weren't directing a superhero movie. Because while this film doesn't feature superhuman characters, the ridiculous action breaks the boundaries of what's physically and humanly possible time and time again. And the silly action was actually trumped by its even more ridiculous narrative. If you're a pure action afficionado, you might find something to love with the big-screen adaptation for "The Gray Man". But for us, we like our action mixed with a little bit of reality.
Undercover CIA mercenary operative Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling) is out on a mission in Thailand when he finds out that the man he is tasked to kill was a former CIA mercenary like himself. The ex-agent hands him a necklace before he dies and in it reveals deep dark agency secrets. The once highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death has now been marked as a traitor. The CIA enlists a private and extremely ruthless contractor Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) who will stop at nothing to take Sierra Six out.
If we could describe "The Gray Man", it was an unstoppable ride from first minute to last. If we could rate this film on being fast-paced alone, then this film will have a perfect score. But this adrenaline-"rushed" style was a decoy to hide the film's real and underlying problems. First and foremost, this film just broke the boundaries of realism time and time again. It could actually make any of the "Fast and Furious" films a run for their money. Our characters were surviving death-inducing sequences and healing like a wound was nothing after a few scenes in tow. Second and more critically, we felt like the narrative wasn't anything memorable or special. In fact, it just had this generic vibe that not even its biggest stars could shake off. A lot of elements, explanations, and decisions our characters made in the film just didn't make a lot of sense. But not all is bad for "The Gray Man". Its biggest asset was its action. It was frenetic and thrilling even with its extreme execution. The dynamic and banter between each character was also a fun element to experience. Overall, "The Gray Man", even with its big-name cast and directors, just felt lukewarm and it didn't live up to any of our expectations sadly.
Rating: 2 and a half reels
Why you should watch it:
- action sequences were actually entertaining and epic in scale
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- generic and uninspired narrative
- superhuman characters that seemingly are made of armor
The Gray Man Movie Review: Superhero Agents in Disguise
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