I'm not one to be picky when it comes to movies released in January. The first month of the year generally tends to be a dumping ground for studios to release movies that they don't think they can market. Most of the worst movies of the year come out at this time.
So, yeah, judging by that standard, The Grey is actually pretty good. It's got Liam Neeson, whose greatest skill as an actor is his ability to class up any movie that he's in. And, in this movie, he's in good form. He brings his trademark gravitas to the lead role, convincing us yet again that he is both smarter than all of us and that he wouldn't think twice about choking us to death if we pissed him off.
But, aside from Neeson, there's not much to like in this movie. Sure, it has its moments, but, all in all, The Grey is a pretty forgettable piece of work.
Neeson stars as John Ottway, an oil worker tasked with protecting an Alaskan drilling site from wolf attacks. On his last night at the site, he pens what appears to be a letter his estranged wife, and then walks outside intent on killing himself. At the last second before he pulls the trigger on his rifle, he hears wolves howling in the distance, which, for that moment anyway, changes his mind about suicide.
The next day, Ottway ships out on a small plane with a group of rag-tag workers. The plane crashes mid-flight, leaving Ottway and several of his fellow passengers stranded in the freezing Alaskan wilderness. They try to hole up around the wreckage of the plane, but it soon becomes clear that they are in the middle of the hunting grounds of a ferocious pack of wolves.
Luckily enough, Ottway is something of an wolf expert. As such, he becomes the de facto leader of the group. Needless to say, it's pretty obvious Liam Neeson would be the leader of any group he's in because, honestly, can you see Liam Neeson taking orders from anyone?
What follows is a survival story as the group tries to travel through the wilderness toward any sign of civilization and, more importantly, away from the wolves, which stalk them every step of the way, picking off members of the group one by one. Scenes of wolf attacks are interspersed with scenes around campfires where the characters reflect on life, God, and the harshness of nature. This is not an art movie, it's a movie about killer wolves, so, as you might expect, these scenes are a bit ham-handed and trite.
Still, there are some truly terrifying moments. Early in the film, a single wolf approaches the group's campfire. It's eyes light up, reflecting the light of the fire. Then, in the darkness behind the wolf, dozens of other eyes appear. It's frightening...for a few seconds anyway, until you realize how fake it looks (more on that in a minute).
Later, as the group huddles around another campfire, they hear the wolves calling just over a hill. They don't see anything except the breath of the wolves rising like steam in the cold night air. It's a creative and well-executed moment.
One of the major problems with this movie, however, is the fact that the wolves never look real. Obviously, they couldn't use real wolves. The film uses CGI only in a few wider shots with wolves running in the distance. In scenes where the wolves are up close, they are all animatronic, glorified puppets really. The attack scenes are filmed mostly in up-close upshots and quick cutaways so they don't look too ridiculous. But, there are several scenes -- including a tense final scene -- where the shot is wider and a wolf is in full view. At those moments, the wolves look so fake that they rob the movie of any dramatic momentum that may have been building up to that point.
Seriously, when you're watching a dramatic, man-vs.-nature film that starts reminding you of the Gmork in Neverending Story, it's hard to take it seriously.
The Grey was directed by Joe Carnahan, who's become known for bad action movies. He directed the movie Narc several years back, which was one of my favorite movies at that time. I've always been interested in seeing what he comes out with based solely on that movie. But, with each passing movie, I care less and less.
A lot has been said about the ending of The Grey, mostly negative. But, call me contrarian, I honestly thought the end was by far the best part. I won't spoil it here. But, I'll just say that, if you're not already convinced that Liam Neeson could kill you in an instant and think nothing of it, you will be after seeing this movie.
But, all told, The Grey is just a so-so movie. What it does it does fairly well. But, there are just enough weak moments to keep the audience from caring enough about what happens next.
This post gets 7 thumbs up just for the Gmork reference.
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