Certificate: 15
Running Time: 117 mins
Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson,
Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo
Genre: Action,
Thriller
Country: USA

When word came down that Big Liam was taking on wolves in his next movie it crossed my
mind how interesting it would be to see an Escape
to Victory style movie set in the Midlands
against the crushing backdrop of the recession.
The Grey is not this movie
though. When his airplane crashes in Alaska leaving six
survivors in the middle of nowhere up against a pack of hungry wolves it’s up
to Neeson (or Big Liam) to lead them to safety or find themselves as a raw
starter.
A friend described this movie (between laughs) as “as stupid as Deep
Blue Sea ”
and it wasn’t long before I was able to see what he was talking about. Yes, it is true that wolves hunt in packs but
whether or not they’ve mastered flanking manoeuvres, strategy or misdirection
is open for debate…I’m not even sure
Wolves (the football club) have that level of tactical prowess. As an animal lover it has something of a
dangerous message for the masses. It’s very
much a hobbies from the mind of Sarah
Palin feel to it. Big bad wolves are
evil, we should probably kill them all, one at a time…while we’re at it why not
get rid of all the bears, snakes and why not cats? They do look at you funny after all. It might seem like an odd criticism for a
popcorn flick but with so many people taking what little education they can
squeeze into their heads from cinema it is a little unsettling how easily acceptable these
notions can be. Saying that, it’s
understandable. Genre movies need
antagonists. In this instance the
untamed, untameable wild plays antagonists to Neeson and his band of
anti-heroes. The problem with the wild baddie is, much like that of the
Sci-Fi alien baddie, all too often we’re unable to view anything in the film
from their vantage point and they become one dimensional which in turn makes
the film boring, predictable and lacklustre.
For the most part Carnahan tries to stave off this by having a little bit
of in-fighting amongst ours heroes
but again this is riddled with problems.
From the get-go they’re described as criminals
and assholes making it a little difficult to care. For the most part (with the exception of Big
Liam) I was on the wolves’ side.

There are some nice touches in The
Grey –and they’re all down to Carnahan.
The use of the white snow against the pitch black night creates a
nightmarish, almost Weimarian, landscape to set this narrative against. Neeson’s early moments remembering his wife
are handled extremely well with a lovely stylistic that you wish would continue
throughout the movie –but it doesn’t. As
the film goes on the identity and style bottlenecks until it becomes run of the
mill.
The overwhelming problem with The
Grey is it is that of mixed messages. At heart, thematically, it's a war movie yet it's a war that most of the audience are uncomfortable with them fighting.
The men are laid siege to and in the end have to seek a stronghold they
can defend. What could have made this
film interest would be if it took place man-on-man, as it would have had a
level to play on that saw man fight against nature (man’s nature) but
unfortunately it’s literary man versus nature.
Ridiculous? No? Imagine watching the same movie only they’re
in Alaska up
against seals.
0 comments:
Post a Comment