The Gray Man

The locations change like on a treadmill, but the problem is that the you can’t see the 200 million USD budget at all. Most of the film takes place in dark interiors, so the viewer's eye doesn't feed and the few camera flyovers with drones don't save the day. And the action? There's little that's truly memorable and when there is it's dull, lacking any ideas or technical flourishes; Paul Greengrass should give these brothers some lessons in directing action scenes because the result here is dull. The only highlight is Prague and its several-minute tram rampage, but even that didn't raise my pulse, any action passage from Bourne has much more balls. The only bright spot is the one I wouldn't have expected: Chris Evans is excellent, and although his role might tempt one to overplay it, he holds back reasonably well until the end, which is more than enough for a psychopath par excellence, also, the porn-stache does its bit too. Netflix is slowly becoming a synonym of money dump. (23.07.2022)

As an action spy flick, it’s alright, but as something with a 200 million USD budget aiming to be the best of the Netflix showcase, it’s a bust. To be fair, though, the current blockbusters from classic movie studios (half of the Marvel movies, The Fast and the Furious franchise, the latest Jurassic World, and so on) are similarly shitty. For me, the main problem is that the film "jumps the shark" somewhere in the thirtieth minute, in the extremely ugly (for that money) CGI scene falling out of a plane without a parachute. From that point on, it doesn't matter, we can't worry about the hero because he’ll have it easy peasy. Now he's in Turkey, now in Vienna, now in Prague, he gets stabbed several times, falls down a well, jumps off a moving tram, but hardly anything happens to him, he's just cool. I'd like to see him at least not twist his ankle in real life and then not move for a week! Have the filmmakers watched John Wick, where the action is kept (more or less) grounded and physical to the point it hurts? That’s why those are films people remember. The Gray Man, on the other hand, everyone will watch it (everyone who still has Netflix, that is), but they will forget it in a week. For Czech viewers, it's quite rewarding at best in the sense that they will enjoy watching all the cities that Prague plays here (though there’s always a dominant of the given metropolis painted on the horizon). Otherwise, a forgettable film, the most interesting thing about it is that it doesn’t have any style (which, interestingly, is the opposite I criticised the Russo brothers for in Cherry). (22.07.2022)

Compared to Bourne, The Gray Man is a lot dumber and more B-ish. Compared to Bond, it’s less stylish. Compared to Hunt, it’s less imaginative. But if you throw out the attempts to compare to him the greatest heroes of spy-action movies, he actually doesn't come out nearly as bad. The premise is already a B-movie washout, so it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that the movie will be similarly off. The opening scene in Bangkok would easily stand up to a Bond film, but then it takes almost an hour before anything really interesting and entertaining starts happening. And no, I don’t mean trying to go in depth with flat heroes and trying to describe the behind-the-scenes practices of CIA agents who don't even trust each other. Once the action shifts to Prague, however, and the tram set-piece you couldn't help but read about kicks in, it becomes fully apparent that The Gray Man may have had bigger ambitions, but only on paper. If the film and the audience can come to terms with the fact that it's a big overpriced action B-movie, they can enjoy it as much as I did. The Russo's may go a little overboard with the drones and the stunts could have been better handled, but the action is truly spectacular, imaginative and you can see the budget. Chris Evans is a fine asshole, Ryan Gosling doesn't offend, but it's not his life role, and Ana de Armas relies on acting cute even though she has two rocket launchers on her back and a grenade launcher in her hand. If you find that idea funny and entertaining rather than awkward and ridiculous, chances are you'll enjoy this solid action flick. Netflix may have wanted more, and it's not great by any means. On the other hand, if The Gray Man catches on and we get a sequel, I'll gladly spend those two hours with them again. (24.07.2022)

This year's biggest Netflix event could have had bigger ambitions, but for me, it's still a fun spy actioner that I have a soft spot for. Extraction is still one of Netflix's best actioners, and I have 6 Underground above it, thanks to the merit of the R-rating, which Gray Man lacks, and it's a great shame. It doesn't reach the level of MI or Bond, but that doesn't bother me at all, it's still an above average genre flick that reliably entertains for two hours. The Russo Brothers were more impressive in Avengers and I liked a lot Cherry, we'll see what they come up with next, I wish they'd do horror, that could be a nice challenge. Gray Man benefits the most from its attractive cast. Ryan Gosling is a decent hero you can root for, Chris Evans enjoys playing the bad guy, and Ana de Armas is traditionally a hottie. The visuals are fine, though the CGI was occasionally jarring and could have been done a bit better for 200 million, but it didn't downright bother me. The action is decent for a PG-13 rating, and there were some interesting ideas – the red smoke on the plane looked great, the stealth action in the opening was likeable, the fight with the Indian star was awesome, and the whole Prague arc is very cool. I liked that there's a lot of location changes and lots of interesting cities to see. Plot-wise, the film doesn't bring any surprises, but I enjoyed the dialogue – I love that macho banter. The biggest minus is definitely the lack of an R-rating and the sound design of the weapons isn't exactly dazzling, and I won't be rushing out for a second viewing either, but I still enjoyed Gray Man. Definitely better Netflix. Story 3/5. Action 4/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 7/10. (24.07.2022)

The Gray Man is about as sophisticated as Arnold’s Commando, but the opulent, senseless destruction and action led by the highly amusing Chris "Lloyd" Evans is well worth it. Exotic and more familiar locations run past you like on a conveyor belt. Gosling enjoys his bored, idiosyncratic agent and Billy Bob is pretty fine too. A pleasant Netflix B-movie which is all the better for the fact that I and my family had the chance to watch the best scenes of it being filmed. "Get comfortable" like we're going to Prague, or... or, like, jail comfortable? (23.07.2022)

It's hard to believe that the brother duo who directed one of the best action movies of the last decade (Captain America: Winter Soldier) are behind The Gray Man. The difference in the execution of the action scenes, especially the work with the editing and sound mixing, is enormous, almost like something from another world. Their new feature is, of course, a narratively archetypal scheme seen hundreds of times. And, while apart from the brilliant Evans, Robert Redford was in charge with a stony face and elegance of his own, here we get at most the gay-looking Bridgerton hunk, a very significant drop in quality. Gosling plays Gosling – i.e., the same soft-spoken cool dude who can put up a decent fight, but there's not a single coherent, raw and dynamically shot action scene, except for Prague. The destruction of Prague doesn't abound with the given criteria either, but at least it has some kind of pace and one can enjoy it a bit more out of sentiment than the rest. The best part is the wrecking of the headquarters of Unicredit Bank, thumbs up for that. I'd probably give the sequel a chance, but with a complete rewrite. This is very, very far from Bourne, Hunt or the last Bond. (24.07.2022)

Less would have been more. Take the final man-on-man fight, for example, it’s absolutely brilliant, gripping, entertaining, thrilling and yet quite modestly conceived, and compare it to the main action scene, which unfortunately takes place in Prague, it wants to be spectacular but is at best awkward and gives the impression that it's only in the film because someone wanted it there, even though it doesn't make much sense. This film should ideally have been an hour and a half long and trimmed of the unnecessary stuff and some of the characters, it could have focused more on Gosling's likable bulldog and Evans's 80's funny but not ridiculous villain, it could have kept the action down to earth where it suits the Russo's (the night fight in the house, another great scene). Netflix didn't have to present it so grandly... And it would have been better. (23.07.2022)

Mir kommt es so vor, als ob es schon Holz zu den Bäumen tragen ist, etwas über diesen Film zu schreiben. Die großspurigen Erklärungen von Netflix und die hohen Erwartungen der Zuschauer haben sich irgendwie nur mittelmäßig ausgewirkt, aber lasst uns nichts vormachen, es ist nicht gerade das Bügelprodukt wie zum Beispiel Red Notice (auch bekannt als die zweitteuerste Produktion von Netflix), und man kann sich bei Gray Man amüsieren (vor allem dank Chris Evans, der diesen Barttragenden Psychopathen wirklich genießt). (10.09.2022)

The Gray Man beweist, dass Netflix Hunderte Millionen haben kann, so viel die nur wollen, aber trotzdem wird es das Syndrom der billigen Wegwerfunterhaltung nicht los. Was in aller Welt sollten diese verrückten Drohnenüberflüge? Haben nicht einmal die Brüder Russos wirklich eine richtige Technik? Und für richtige Effekte? Mit ihrem verpatzten Bourne beweisen sie, dass es unter Marvel vielleicht wirklich mehr Aufsicht gab, als wir bisher zugegeben haben. Hier haben wir also nur ungewollte B-Ware. Ein Film, dem es an Gesicht, Spannung und dem gewissen Etwas fehlt. Und dabei reichte in dieser Sommersaison so wenig. (25.07.2022)