Philosophical thriller compensates for cheap thrills with star power
Of all the modern day action stars, none have been a bigger box-office draw over the past couple of years than Liam Neeson, a man who has established himself as more of a badass than most of the actions stars half his age.
In fact, he has pulled off so much macho bravado in his action roles that people are replacing Chuck Norris jokes with his name.
His bravado continues to be put on display in “The Grey,” a movie that actually isn’t as action-packed as “Taken” (2008) or “The A-Team” (2010). “The Grey” is more of a philosophical thriller. While there are no gunfights or explosions, the movie contains a satisfying amount of thrills that consist of jump scares and gore.
Neeson stars as John Ottway who works as a marksman in Alaska killing wildlife that threaten an oil drilling team. Like everybody else working there, he is a deeply troubled man with a mysterious past so dark that it almost forces him to kill himself. After completing the job, Ottway and the team embark on a plane ride back home, which eventually crashes as a result of the intense weather.
Unsurprisingly, Ottway, along with a few other men, survive the crash and find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere, battling merciless weather and mortal injuries. Their attempts to survive prove more difficult than expected as they discover that the plane is being hunted down by a pack of savage wolves from a nearby den.
Afterwards, “The Grey” gears toward survival film territory as each member of the group gets picked off one by one by the wolves.
We know that these men are going to die eventually, but it’s still a thrill to see the wolves lunge out of nowhere and feed on our heroes.
On that note, being the film that it is, “The Grey” isn’t exactly what people expect of it. There is plenty of gory violence as we see the wolves devour the entrails of whoever they kill, but the survivors actually spend more time running away from the wolves than confronting them.
“The Grey” makes up for this by presenting itself with an artsy, philosophical feel. Director Joe Carnahan gives us a surprisingly deep script that mimics anything that Ernest Hemingway or Jack London could have written regarding men surviving under extreme conditions.
The movie takes on themes such as the meaning of life and spirituality, as shown most notably when Ottway pleads to God for help, but after receiving no response, he replies, “I’ll do it myself.”
But the main attraction and the box-office draw to this film is Neeson. Like the alpha male in the wolf pack, he’s the guy that everybody turns to since he appears to be the expert on wolves. We see him pound a couple of these wolves until they’re either done or dead and show his dominance within the group of survivors.
There is a big difference between this role and all the other roles in the action films Neeson has done in the past couple of years, like “Taken” and “Unknown” (2011). The script gives Ottway plenty of depth as an emotionally damaged man, as we see snippets of Ottway’s lost love and his emotionally distant father.
As for our beastly threats, the wolves in this film are a mixture of animatronics, CGI and reality. They come off as convincingly more frightening than any of the wolves from “Red Riding Hood” (2011) and the “Twilight” films.
In fact, these wolves are sketched as much larger in temperament and size than in real life, particularly the alpha male, giving “The Grey” the feel of a modern day monster film with the wolves coming off as demons during the nighttime.
The story may feel familiar and the ending will definitely make some audiences feel cheated, but “The Grey” is still a thrilling and entertaining movie that will leave you thinking more than a typical action film.