When the CIA’s most skilled operative-whose true identity is known to none-accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt by international assassins.
Chuck says:
Based on the novel by Mark Greaney, Anthony and Joe Russo’s “The Gray Man” is an action film on steroids, a production that contains enough stunts to fill five movies. In this age of bloated adventure flicks, that’s saying something. To the Russo’s credit, what with the star power and rampant destruction on display, you can tell that every cent of their $200 million budget is on the screen. A hand-to-hand fight trips on the heels of an elaborate car chase which is quickly ushered off-screen to make room for a death-defying mid-air sequence, ad nauseum. It’s all quite spectacular; it’s also rather exhausting as the sheer number of action scenes start to blur into a fusillade of motion that ultimately bludgeon’s the viewer rather than entertains it.
The plot, such as it is, involves Six (Ryan Gosling), an operative for the Sierra organization, a super, super secret agency put together by Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), who’s just as far off the grid. Six is the type of guy who…well, you know this guy! He’s the one you send in when no one else can get the job done, the guy who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake, the guy who emerges from one horrific scrape after another with nary a cut or blemish on him. You know – THAT GUY!
On an assignment that goes sideways, he comes into possession of a thumb drive that contains incriminating information that CIA director Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page) desperately needs to retrieve. So, he sends agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) to bring in Six and hedges his bets by also hiring Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a psychopathic independent contractor, who employs various mercenaries to do his bidding. Chaos ensues…
I expected ACME anvils to start falling out the sky with all the futile deathtraps that were put into play and the lack of harm done to their intended targets. Despite it all being a blur, there are some standout moments. A sequence that finds our hero trying to avoid a group of elite soldiers on board a Flying Fortress with a large hole in its side and a Humvee rolling about in it is imaginatively executed as well as rather funny. However, the highlight is a 15-minute set piece that finds Six handcuffed to a park bench, avoiding hundreds of bullets, only to escape to an abandoned street tram, copious bad guys in hot pursuit. The elaborate gun and fistfights that ensue on this runaway train are as exciting as they are ridiculous.
Still, it’s much too much and the only thing that makes it all bearable are the arch performances from the three leads. Gosling’s refusal to recognize any sense of pain no matter how much Six is put through gets funnier as the amount of abuse he endures increases. He’s having great fun as is Evans, playing Hansen to the hilt, employing everything except moustache twirling and maniacal laughter to rend his good-guy persona to shreds. I’m not sure if either of the actors perform as much as posture throughout. As for de Armas, based on her extended cameo in “No Time to Die” and her appearance here, if a studio doesn’t offer her an action franchise of her own, everyone in Tinsel Town is asleep at the wheel.
The fact that this is on Netflix denies the viewer of seeing this spectacle on the big screen which is a shame. However, it proves to be an advantage as being able to pause the film periodically is a plus. You’ll need to catch your breath now and again.
3 Stars
