'The Gray Man' Review: Netflix's Latest is Elevated By its Leading Men
Fresh off directing one of the biggest blockbusters in history, Anthony and Joe Russo team up with Netflix for the streamer’s most expensive attempt at a franchise hopeful to date.
Based on Mark Greaney’s best selling novel, The Gray Man’s journey to the screen has been a decade long process. Initially intended as a vehicle for Brad Pitt and director James Gray, and even a proposed gender-swapped version with Charlize Theron , the project stayed in development hell until Netflix and The Russos, announced their intentions to start a franchise and spent a whopping $200 million to bring it to life. The end result is an above-average action film that leaves much to be desired, yet the performances make it enjoyable enough to be intrigued to see where it goes in the future.
The Gray Man follows Court Gentry, aka Six (Ryan Gosling), who in 2003 in serving a 35 year sentence when CIA veteran Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) gives him the opportunity for freedom in exchange for working as an assassin through the Sierra program, thus giving away his previous existence. Flash forward to the present day and Six is now an experienced killer for hire but still has a clear conscience never accepting his role as anything more than work. While in Bangkok on a mission to take down a target at an over the top New Year’s Eve bash, he comes in cahoots with fellow agent Dani Miranda (Ana De Armas) leading the mission to go awry when he uncovers secrets about the agency. Desperate to stop Six from revealing these secrets, his boss (Bridgerton’s Rege-Jean Page) hires psychopathic agent Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to take him out, forcing Six to reluctantly partner with Miranda and clear his name.
Compared to Netflix’s previous attempts at big budget tentpoles worth of the big screen, (think 6 Underground or Red Notice), there does seem to be a greater ambition and passion behind this film beyond just being a product green lit because the algorithm says people will watch it. Right from the beginning, you can tell that the Russos want to craft a big budget spy thriller that is focused on the character of Six and slowly but surely reveal why he got into the position he is in now and what he will do to protect those he loves. Although they aren’t filmmakers with a distinct style, you can see them build on what they learned from their Marvel days in showcasing massive locations, entertaining action scenes but also having strong character moments that make you root for (or against) the characters.
This leads to the absolute strength of the film and that is the cast. Gosling proves himself to be a capable and likeable action lead as Six. He has always been an actor known for playing subtle quiet characters that usually have mystery to them whether its movies like Drive, Blade Runner 2049 and even La La Land and his portrayal of Six is no exception either. This is a character that is calm and reserved when on assignment despite his reservations at killing people yet Gosling’s charm and charisma make it so that you don’t pity or root against him. As the film goes along, we see more layers of Six’s character and why he ended up in prison in the first place. It really is the less action heavy scenes where Gosling shines especially when he is assigned to look out for and save Fitzroy’s ill niece Claire (Julia Butters) in a way that is reminiscent of The Professional.
In contrast to Gosling, Evans is deliciously over the top and hammy in the villain role. Hansen is a sadistic violence hungry ex-CIA agent who loves his job maybe a little too much and will go to any and all lengths to complete his mission. In his first scene, he is joyfully torturing a man to death when he learns of his assignment to take out Six. Every time he’s on screen, Evans relishes in the villainy he gets to inhabit and does everything you expect a character like Hansen to do. He yells loud, beats and kills people who threaten him, mocks Six by calling him names like “Sunshine” or “Cupcake”. After nearly a decade of playing the good hearted Captain America and being a symbol of the MCU, you can tell how much Evans wanted to play a role that was the complete opposite and fans should no doubt welcome this against type performance from him.
The supporting cast is mostly strong here. De Armas, fresh from showing her action chops in No Time To Die, is solid as Miranda and she has strong chemistry with Gosling. However, outside of a few moments, she never really gets to showcase the skills she showed in that James Bond flick and ultimately her character seems to only serve as Six’s backup and exposition of why he must trust her. Thornton is his usual reliable self as Fitzroy and is able to balance his character with being a demanding boss to Six and a loving uncle to his niece. Butters is a little hit and miss as Claire as there are moments where she and Gosling work well off each other while others have her succumb to the typical child actor talking older than they are syndrome.
Technically, the film is a mixed bag. With a massive budget at their disposal, The Russos spare no expense in delivering some pretty strong action sequences reminiscent of the sorts of flicks you would see in the 90s. Much of this is heightened by the use of drone shots that allow viewers to see nearly every aspect of the sequence on screen. The highlight involves Six escaping from authorities in Prague leading to a high speed chase across the city on top of a metro car. The stunt work, effects and explosions are used perfectly here.
Where The Gray Man struggles is in the screenplay and cinematography. Although the action scenes are paced well, the visual style for the most part is pretty dark and moody making it difficult to make out what is going in certain scenes as well as keeping track of the many characters in this world. The screenplay by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is a mix of typical spy thriller exposition and clunky comedic one liners that only work sporadically and because it is so focused on franchise building and setting up future instalments, the film does suffer a bit as the time spent on the future could have explored more of Six’s life and relationships with the people around him and given characters like Miranda more room to grow. Clocking in at over two hours, it could have benefited from adding more dramatic scenes or removing some of the action to make it better paced.
The Gray Man doesn’t quite hit the landing that it should have given the talent and money behind it but some solid performances, creative ideas and excellent action scenes make it worthy of at least a watch. In comparison to past Netflix tentpole wannabes such as Red Notice and Bright, this feels more like a movie that everybody involved wanted to make work. There is enough good action that make it worth seeing on the big screen if you’re lucky to be near a theatre showing it but Netflix should have very little trouble getting a large enough audience to view this title among their biggest original films that a promising franchise may very well be born