The Spoiler-ific Companion Piece to The Gray Man Review
Some random thoughts about The Gray Man that are chock-full of spoilers.
Spoiler-alert! Here are some random thoughts about The Gray Man.
Ricardo Hohl Jr (a friend on Facebook) pointed out that there were quite a few similarities to the Schwarzenegger film Commando. The following are some that I can think of:
The hero has to escape from inside a plane.
The hero has to fight and kill at least one person from his outfit.
The female supporting actor has a scene where she uses an explosive projectile weapon.
Evans’ sociopathic, mustached villain is reminiscent of Bennett. He even has a knife battle with Gosling in their final showdown. Both Bennett and Hansen died from a fatal injury to the chest.
Both finales involve rescuing a pre-teen girl held hostage in a large mansion.
Evans called Gosling a “Ken doll”. If you know, you know.
There is a scene with a jeep with a henchman poking out of its sunroof with a machine gun who looks like Al Leong. This is funny if you know who Al Leong is.
Empire FB group member Gregory Webster pointed out to me that the film is based on a series of books by Mark Greaney. Based on the synopsis, the film seems to deviate quite a bit from the source.
Though some people have been complaining about the “terrible” script, there are still some cool lines and comebacks like “it’s just another Thursday,” “boring”, and “please remove yourself from my personal space!”
Things I’m looking forward to in Part 2:
Sierra One, Two, Three and Five.
The “Old Man”, revealed to be none other than Six’s dad, so that they can shoehorn in a Star Wars moment. How did he survive being shot and killed by Six? Unclear. But I’m sure they’ll find a way.
I haven’t read the books, but I bet Six’s brother is also a Sierra.
Denny and Suzanne getting their due comeuppance.
Dhanush’s Avik San returning to kick ass in style.
Lloyd’s twin brother, also played by Evans, plotting his revenge against Six. He’d be meaner and crazier than Lloyd, but without a mustache. It’s stupid, but it’d fit naturally in this trope-ridden world.
Originally published on my Facebook page, here.
Spoiler-free review, here.
The Gray Man
This isn’t the smart spy thriller I was looking forward to. I was waiting eagerly to have the rug pulled under me, but I knew it wasn’t to be after the umpteenth action thriller trope was being introduced. It’s really just an unsophisticated action movie designed for spectacle and crowd-pleasing moments.
★★★★
No spoilers
The Gray Man is an action movie directed by the Russo Brothers. They’re also the director of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, so my anticipation for this one is pretty high, probably because I haven’t seen their previous movie, Cherry, which not many people liked. Stars Ryan Gosling as a CIA assassin who disobeyed orders during a mission and goes on the run. Believing that he possessed important information that could implicate his employers, they sent mercenary-for-hire Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to kill him.
This isn’t the smart spy thriller I was looking forward to. I was waiting eagerly to have the rug pulled under me, but I knew it wasn’t to be after the umpteenth action thriller trope was being introduced. It’s really just an unsophisticated action movie designed for spectacle and crowd-pleasing moments.
What it does right are the action stuff. No shaky cam here - everything’s meticulously choreographed and shot. There are two major set pieces that are going to please the action aficionados, and a number of smaller ones, mostly hand-to-hand melees that may not have the creative glee John Wick’s fights have, but they’re still very entertaining. Gosling handles the action scenes well, and I enjoyed his nonchalant attitude whenever a situation’s escalating. Evans is having a blast playing an absolute bastard who is also pretty funny. I was surprised to see Ana de Armas here as I’ve forgotten she was in the movie. She probably kicked the most asses here out of all the movies I’ve seen her in. Yes, a lot more than even No Time To Die. She was great. The cast also includes Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton, the guy from Bridgerton, and the little kid from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
I’m disappointed that this came from the Russos, whom I expected to offer more from the story perspective, but for some reason they opted the safe and familiar route instead. It’s not a total loss, as the movie is still a very enjoyable, albeit generic action film. The two set pieces alone are worth the price of subscription.
Originally published on my Facebook Page, Big Movie Freak.