The Gray Man
Possibly Netflix’s most expensive production so far, The Gray Man is a genuine action blockbuster that’s packed full of gripping action sequences, amusing dialogue, and an all-star cast. Led by fantastic performances from Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, this film is a whole heap of fun from beginning to end.
Premise: Eighteen years after convict Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) is recruited into the CIA by Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) and transformed into the government’s black-ops assassin codename Sierra Six, a complication during a mission means that Six finds himself hunted by his former associates (Ana de Armas, Regé-Jean Page and Jessica Henwick), as well as the sociopathic private military contractor Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans).
Review:
It’s probably fair to say that Netflix have been trying to produce an out-and-out, honest-to-goodness blockbuster movie for several years now. I’ve found some of their attempts disappointing (such as Extraction and Bright), while others were enjoyable enough but still not quite top-tier tentpole entertainment (like The Old Guard and Red Notice). But The Gray Man changes all of that – Netflix finally has a no-holds-barred, adrenaline-fueled, A-list powered event movie that can proudly stand alongside any summer cinematic release.
Full disclosure: I was lucky enough to see The Gray Man on the big screen before it launches on Netflix, so I was able to luxuriate in the onscreen mayhem as a fully immersive cinematic experience, and this may have had an impact on my enjoyment of the movie. But I think that even when streamed on Netflix at home, the film’s impressive action sequences should still carry you along with their propulsive energy (although I personally don’t believe that any decent action film is best watched on a phone screen, but that’s a separate discussion for another day).
“…Chris Evans’ villain is an absolute joy to watch every time he’s onscreen…”
First of all, let me get the part of the film that I didn’t love out of the way, and that’s the plot. Not that there’s anything wrong with the plot per se, it’s just that there’s really not a lot of it. Essentially, Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling) gets a thing, other people want that thing, and so they send Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) after the thing … and that’s (perhaps ungenerously) the plot in a nutshell. But The Gray Man is not a Tom-Clancy-esque spy thriller that’s trying to come up with convoluted plots and mysteries that the audience won’t see coming (not that all such spy thrillers succeed in doing so) – instead, The Gray Man is all about taking a relatively simple premise and executing it really well. In that respect, The Gray Man reminds me a little of The Bourne Identity, which was another film that had a relatively straightforward spy thriller premise, but elevated it with its execution.
That said, The Gray Man is a lot more fun than the Jason Bourne films, which are not exactly known for their sense of humour. The Gray Man is by no means an out-and-out action comedy, but it does have a lot of laugh-out-loud funny moments – most of which are courtesy of Chris Evans’ borderline OTT performance as the sociopathic antagonist Lloyd Hansen. Evans looks like he’s having a whale of a time playing Lloyd, and the character is an absolute joy to watch every time he’s onscreen. Lloyd is an unrepentantly vile human being, the kind of person who sees a lack of a moral compass as an advantage, but as a result he’s one of the most fun movie villains to spend time with since Alan Rickman’s Sherriff of Nottingham.
“…finds a tone that’s a mash-up of the genre greats, but not an imitation of them…”
It’s a credit to The Gray Man that is manages to feel like it’s drawing from the best examples of the genre – Bond, Bourne, Mission: Impossible – but it still also manages to feel like the movie is its own thing, finding a tone that’s a mash-up of the others, but not an imitation of them. For example, it doesn’t try to out-stunt Mission: Impossible, or out-gadget Bond, or out-conspiracy Bourne, but it does capture the globe-trotting excitement of the best spy movies, while also delivering some incredibly impressive action sequences of its own.
The Gray Man has a bit of everything for action fans – well-choreographed (and sometimes fairly brutal) fight sequences, massive shoot-outs, car chases, and in one particularly memorable action sequence, all three. Co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo (aka the Russo brothers) do a fantastic job of filming the action, making it feel dynamic, inventive and engaging, but without ever feeling visually confusing. But these are the directors of the former highest grossing film of all time, Avengers: Endgame, and so this is perhaps not too surprising! That said, the two Russo brothers’ films that The Gray Man reminds me of the most are Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Infinity War, because The Gray Man combines the slightly grittier action/thriller tone of The Winter Soldier with the absolutely non-stop action onslaught of Infinity War.
“…the cast list is an embarrassment of riches…”
The success of the film’s tone is also no doubt partly thanks to the co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (who also worked with the Russo brothers on their Captain America and Avengers movies). They find a perfect balance to keep the film fun, funny and entertaining (particularly in respect of the characters’ dialogue), but without ever undermining the tension or dramatic weight of the scenes.
.It also doesn’t hurt to have a cast as good as this delivering the characters’ dialogue, and in The Gray Man’s cast list, there really is an embarrassment of riches. Ryan Gosling finds shade and moments of levity to play in what could, in a lesser film, be a very one-note stoic action hero, leaving Chris Evans to have fun chewing up the scenery. For anyone who wished there was more of her character Paloma in No Time To Die, the good news is that Ana de Armas gets to make a longer impact in a similar role in this film, as CIA officer Dani Miranda. For de Armas, The Gray Man must have felt like a mini-reunion with her Knives Out and Blade Runner 2049 co-stars!
“…I would absolutely be first in line to see the next onscreen adventure of Sierra Six…”
Meanwhile, Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Henwick and Regé-Jean Page all get their chances to shine in supporting roles, and it was also great to see Julia Butters getting a chance to follow up on her star-making appearance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. There’s also an impressive smaller role for Tamil cinema star Dhanush, as well as a small cameo from Alfre Woodard.
As I said up front, the weakest element of The Gray Man is its plot, but that really doesn’t impact on the overall enjoyment of the film. The cast all have unbelievable levels of charisma, the script and the dialogue crackle with energy, the action is inventive and engaging, and the pace is relentless (in a good way) and doesn’t lift its foot off the peddle until the very end. The Gray Man is adapted from the first in a series of novels written by Mark Greaney, and presumably, if the movie does well, more film adaptations will follow. Based on how much fun The Gray Man was, I would absolutely be first in line to see the next onscreen adventure of Sierra Six, and the way in which this movie ends leaves me intrigued to see where the story might go from here.
