The Gray Man

 

The Gray Man

Starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick

Directed by Joe & Anthony Russo

Hollywood has had a rough go at it since the pandemic hit, resulting in theaters closing down and no new movies being made, and as we've dug ourselves out of it, the cinemas have seen a resurgence despite fears that people would settle for watching movies at home from now on. Yet to bring people back to the theaters production companies have decided to play it safe and not release the more independent films but instead putting out numerous superhero movies, sequels, and films based off other mediums such as books and comics - something that people will want to go see in droves because of their already invested interest. The same goes for streaming, as during the height of the pandemic services like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ saw huge gains with people unable to leave their homes, but as we've been starting to get back to normal, these services have also taken a hit - most notably Netflix, who's lost millions of subscribers and more millions in revenue. To combat this they're trying new ideas that won't really solve the problem, including cracking down on sharing and including a tier involving ads being included, but if they stop buying every film that comes their way, they might be able to stop hemorrhaging money. "The Gray Man" is one such film - a $200 million dollar investment (the highest Netflix has paid for an original film) that plays it safe on every level, and while it offers some fantastic behind-the-scenes names as well as a strong cast, it ultimately relegates itself to a generic action summer blockbuster that's supposed to be Netflix's first film franchise.

The CIA started an undercover black ops mercenary group known as the Gray Man by recruiting prisoners to work for them to get out of jail, and one of them is Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), who becomes one of the most ruthless and successful assassins in the organization throughout his eighteen-year tenure. When the CIA changes hands and is run by Denny Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page), he decides to eliminate the Gray Man program by killing all its mercenaries, including Six. When Six comes across files that proves Carmichael is crooked, he sends Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former CIA agent who's psychopathic and will stop at nothing - and kill anyone - to get to his target. Six is aided by fellow CIA agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) and together they set out to save Six's old boss's niece who was kidnapped by Hansen, and stop Carmichael's plan.

It's easy to understand why Netflix would shell out $200 million dollars for the project, because it's an easy investment in their eyes: it's got everything going for it to make people want to see it. It's got the great directing duo of Joe and Anthony Russo, who've directed some of Marvel's best films ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Civil War," and "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame") and have a pedigree for showcasing epic action films. It's got a stacked action cast including the long-awaited return of Ryan Gosling, who's been absent from cinema since 2018's "First Man," Chris Evans in a deliciously evil role, and Ana de Armas, who's being groomed to be the next femme fatale in cinema. It's got spectacular action sequences and edge-of-your-seat thrills. Yet, somehow, it all falls completely flat and results in the viewer not really remembering anything of note after the credits end. It's a great ride during, but there's not a lot to talk about after you get off.

"The Gray Man" is based off a novel by Mark Greaney, which is the first of a series of novels featuring Gosling's trained assassin, and basically correlates to other top-notch assassins like Jason Bourne, 007, and the countless others in cinematic and novel history. While these other assassins have deep, rich backstories, Six's story is so bare bones it's almost laughable: as a kid he killed his father because he was beating on his younger brother and ends up in jail. That's all there is to his story, at least from what we gather in the film. There's nothing to this character that makes him at all indistinguishable to anyone else, unlike Bourne's memory loss or Bond's sense of flattery with the women. Six just exists to kill, and while he's exemplary at his job, it doesn't make for a charismatic lead actor, which is sad because Ryan Gosling has so much charisma he still manages to squeak out some charm to Six's personality, but ultimately it's for naught as all he does is hop from one action set piece to another to reach his desired goal, taking punches, stabs, and bullets like a superman.

The Russo brothers spare no expense in their travels, as pretty much every five minutes there's a new title card listing a new place around the globe, and all of them are gloriously beautiful and wonderful to behold, but all feels like window dressing for the action to take place at that specific location. Whether it's fighting on the streets of Croatia or fighting in a historical palatial mansion on the islands, or fighting on a plane above the ocean, there's not much to the set pieces other to be spots for Gosling and company to showcase their fighting prowess. It could be that I'm overthinking things, and if you turn your mind off you can enjoy the ride, but clocking in at over two hours (including a brief layover in a flashback lasting a little over ten minutes and really not adding anything deeply profound to the story), you'd be better off re-watching classic Bourne films to get the same feeling.

While Gosling rules the roost, his supporting cast members also offer their own unique flair. Chris Evans is a highly versatile actor who's been both the most heroic person in cinema (Captain America), as well as some very villainous roles ("Knives Out," "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"), and manages to balance both sides evenly. You can tell he relishes his role as the no-holds-barred villain here, even though he's rather inept at his job (he even mentions that, after enlisting numerous henchman, how hard it could be to kill one man), and it's a delight to see him go toe-to-toe with Gosling. Ana de Armas, however, is entirely wasted in this project as the mysterious CIA agent Dani, whom we know absolutely nothing about. There's no info on her past, or why she agrees to help Six, or anything - she's just there to kick butt and look hot doing it, which is a disservice to such a nuanced actress (she doesn't even share many scenes with Evans, which would've been great due to their natural chemistry after both appearing in "Knives Out").

While the action and tension is there, the soul of "The Gray Man" is lacking. Sure, there's enough summer blockbuster popcorn-eating action to appease the average viewer, but for anyone trying to seek something more than a generic "good guy finds out the people he's been working for are bad and wants to kill him because he has information on them, while the bad guys hire the most psychopathic person imaginable to track him down, enlisting numerous unnamed henchman to be dispatched, involving a possible female love interest with no personality, while making things go boom all around," you'd be wise to browse the Netflix queue a bit more.

The Score: B+