The Gray Man
★★★★
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.