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How Bad Is 'The Gray Man,' Netflix's New $200 Million Film? Here's What The Reviews Say
Netflix bet big on the Russo brothers — specifically, $200 million big — on "The Gray Man," an action thriller about the CIA and its darkest secrets and Sierra Six, a mercenary on the run.
It's based on the eponymous Mark Greaney novel and stars Ryan Gosling in the titular role, alongside Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton and others.
Did Netflix strike gold with the Russo brothers, or did they just burn through a whole lot of cash? Here's what the reviews say.
Netflix Has Lost The Plot
So begins a “blockbuster” so big that you can actually feel the price of your Netflix subscription going up with each new scene, this listless simulacrum of a summer action movie bouncing from one lavish Asian or European location to the next as it searches in vain for the streamer’s first bonafide popcorn franchise. The algorithmic results don’t reflect well on the Russo brothers’ directing chops — their monumental spandex operas seldom required and never displayed the kind of muscular imagination needed to stage Michael Bay-like fight sequences — but “The Gray Man” is even more damning for Netflix itself, particularly so far as it epitomizes the streamer’s penchant for producing mega-budget movies that feel like glorified deepfakes of classic multiplex fare.
The Russo Brothers Style Doesn't Work Here
The movie’s glossy but poorly assembled action scenes also look more chaotic and disjointed than they should in a movie that’s always pushing you to the next set piece. The Russos continue to do their best directing when they reduce their human cast members to their silhouettes, making them the most important parts of any given landscape or master shot. The Russos’ medium close-ups of moving body parts don’t express as much nor do they sync up well enough that the movie’s action scenes flow from one big impact or explosion to the next.
[The Wrap]
The fight scenes are shot in such a way that it's hard to tell what's going on, the humor falls flat (Lloyd calling Six a "Ken Doll," no doubt a break-the-fourth-wall reference to Gosling's "Barbie" character, is what passes for clever), the stunts are more "really?" than "whoa!" and, when all else fails, the Russos resort to blowing stuff up and discharging as much gunfire as a full-scale civil war. And the inevitable Gosling-Evans showdown isn’t much payoff for such tedium.
The Supporting Cast Deserved Better
It is not enough to waste Netflix’s cash, though – the Russos also squander the contributions of their vastly overqualified supporting cast. Ana de Armas, so delightful when wielding a semi-automatic in No Time to Die, gets to look sexy-bored in a thankless role as Sierra’s career-minded colleague. Billy Bob Thornton gets to squint and grunt as a former CIA honcho. And Bridgerton sensation Regé-Jean Page (juice those algorithms, Netflix!) gets to throw his smoothies across the room in rage as Lloyd’s agency minder, a cipher of a villain whose ultimate machinations are revealed to be of the sub-Tom Clancy variety.
In a too-small supporting role, de Armas was one of the best things about “No Time to Die.” Here, the Russos give her considerably more to do. Whether blasting helicopters with a rocket launcher or rescuing Six in a cherry red Audi RS7, she’s up to the task. In another overlap, rumors have hinted that Page could fill Bond’s shoes — so why not cast him as the movie’s dapper puppetmaster? Instead of giving us the umpteenth variation on a supervillain bent on world domination, “The Gray Man” serves us something far scarier: It reinforces our distrust in peacekeeping institutions, while deputizing a lunatic mercenary (in Evans) willing to take out cops, civilians and entire city blocks in his bid to nix Six.
[Variety]
It Lacked Depth
The subplot about the niece seems solely focused to flesh out Gosling’s stoic, deadpanning character, with mixed results – mainly, it just slows down the momentum of the fight scenes and verbal sparring. The over-the-top shoot-‘em-ups and wanton destruction – usually with Six falling or jumping off something – spill from Thailand nightlife to the streets of Prague, with stops in Vienna, Croatia and Berlin, but the settings all feel the same and don’t add much globetrotting spectacle.
The movie zooms manically from exotic industry-tax-break location to exotic industry-tax-break location, each announced on screen in huge sans serif capital letters (VIENNA, PRAGUE, BAKU). There’s plenty of gonzo action but no heart and no real dramatic voltage.
TL;DR
The result is a film that never seems to know what it's doing, or why. The irony is that it keeps trying to be The Bourne Identity, and yet it still ends up with an identity crisis.
[BBC]
The Gray Man is a noisy, flashy spectacle that piles clichés atop ludicrous plotting and sprinkles it all with half-funny quips.
[Slant]
The Gray Man isn’t a bad movie, just one wilfully drained of substance or even dramatic tension.
They should have just called him “The Cliché Man.”
Watch the official trailer below:
