The Gray Man, Netflix’s most expensive and expensive original blockbusters often tend to stick rigidly to the same broad formula, with Joe and Anthony Russo’s The Gray Man the latest to enter the scene when it debuts this coming Friday, July 22. For a company that offers greater creative freedom to its filmmakers than arguably any other major studio in Hollywood.
Similar to David Ayer’s Bright, Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier, and Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Red Notice, the world-trotting spectacular enlists a star-studded ensemble cast, sets them loose in a series of exotic locales, both glamorous and otherwise, and asks them to deliver a gratingly formulaic action epic that occasionally succeeds but all too frequently veers into predictable territory.
The Gray Man has almost nonstop action scenes, some of which are remarkable in their conception and execution, much like the aforementioned high-budget Netflix exclusives, but there’s always some faulty CGI or glaringly visible greenscreen hiding around the corner.
The talent does their hardest to raise the material via sheer force of will despite the fact that the bulk of the ensemble is pigeonholed with one-note tropes. The final ten minutes are nothing more than blatant sequel bait, even if the plot does have a clear beginning, middle, and finish. The corporation laughs off the idea that the all-powerful algorithm controls everything, but it can’t be a coincidence that so many pricey, mass-marketed genre movies are made of strikingly identical materials.
That is not to say The Gray Man isn’t a fun piece of glossy escape, especially considering how much entertainment value it offers for the price of your monthly membership. As already said, the abundance of visual effects may get a little overwhelming (particularly when multiple scenes are veiled by different digitally enhanced types of fog and/or dust), but the set pieces are at their most effective when they are the most realistic.
The Russos have been eager to promote the jaw-dropping Prague detour as The Gray Man’s finest scene, but much like the other action scenes, less would have been more when the overuse of CGI just helps to shatter the suspension of disbelief and damage the immersion. Even in the present day, nothing strikes adrenaline seekers harder than a real set of stunts, thus scenes of hand-to-hand battle and frantic chases are comfortably better to those of aircraft crashes and wanton devastation.
The movie struggles to establish its own personality since the storyline attempts to strike a balance between Jason Bourne and James Bond. The crunching vehicular carnage spreading throughout Europe and the shady government conspirators trying to hide their tracks are all under the influence of Matt Damon’s amnesiac super spy, while the 007 elements involve a data drive MacGuffin, covert operatives recruited from all over the world, and a hammy scenery-chewing main villain with a noticeable defining feature.
In relation to that, Chris Evans and his mustache enter the scene and totally outshine everyone and everything else in The Gray Man. With his contagious enthusiasm, comic asides, and excessive fervor, the actor—who is essentially the only core cast member permitted to go big and inject some personality into a recognizable role—makes Lloyd Hansen an effective parody. He is wicked, he commits crimes while donning slacks and loafers without socks, and he wants you to know that he is enjoying every second of it.
Gosling’s stern and reserved Six is on the opposite extreme of the spectrum. While the actor’s physical prowess in his first-ever main part in a major studio-backed actioner is laudable, the repentant criminal turned elite-tier assassin is more of a cipher that propels things ahead than a fully realized character in his own right. The two-time Oscar nominee, though, does provide a lot of passion and personality via his performance that isn’t evident in the script, leaving us eager to see more of him as a gun-toting badass. He is one of his generation’s best actors.
The same lack of depth may be accused of Ana de Armas’ Dani Miranda, but once again, such transgressions are quickly overlooked in a fit of exuberant delight when she bursts into the scene in the third act with a rocket launcher to wreak complete (and delightfully amusing) devastation. De Armas is as underutilized in this film as she was in No Time to Die, despite the fact that she serves as the point B connecting Six’s A to Regé-Jean Page’s Denny Carmichael’s C.
It’s frustrating to see Jessica Henwick limited to a generic CIA higher-up who isn’t even permitted to get her hands dirty when she’s repeatedly shown herself to be a genuine badass in films like Iron Fist and The Matrix Resurrections. Heavyweight stalwarts Billy Bob Thornton and Alfre Woodward have almost nothing to do except provide the necessary gravity to their characters, but Page does a commendable job as the guy behind the men behind the efforts to obliterate Six from existence.
Superstar of Tamil film Dhanush enters into the scene and kicks a lot of ass, but he quickly leaves minutes later due to a perplexing character choice. In a word, The Gray Man is good for what it is and provides precisely what was promised, but it is disappointing that a higher standard has not been set when all the elements were there to do so quite easily.
The Russo brothers inject a lot of style and visual flair into the mix, and they’re getting closer to proving that they can compete in the blockbuster market without the support of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the tendency for excess that dogged Cherry, the crime caper from a year ago, rears its head once more. It doesn’t always make sense to use Netflix just because you can do anything you want, however you want.
The Gray Man might have been something extraordinary if the running length had been cut by 10-15 minutes, some of the computer-generated pandemonium had been replaced with more traditional in-camera fireworks, and the storyline had been tightened up a little more. The final product is yet another A-grade Netflix blockbuster that entertains in fits and starts, offers a variety of thrills and excitement, and is guaranteed to attract enormous viewing numbers, but which, given the components used in its construction, could (and really should have been) so much more.
The Gray Man
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