The Grey

When a film from this environment and with this theme holds together thanks only to the charisma of the lead actor, something is wrong. We cannot admire Alaska here because it is always either dark or snowed out (less cost for the filmmakers due to studio shooting this way). Nor can we enjoy Joe Carnahan’s camerawork. This did not necessarily have to be a reproach if the film worked as the riveting, dark survival drama that it was supposed to be, but which it is not because of its screenplay. The characters are uninteresting (if the plane crash was survived only by Liam Neeson, the movie would’ve only benefited from it), the dialogue scenes are no good, and there are zero innovative ideas that would contribute to the subgenre. You will not be bored, because sometimes horrifying (digital) wolves appear, but I give it a weak three stars only thanks to Neeson. (05/03/2012)

Demonized CGI wolves in a movie that can’t decide if it wants to be a snowy, melancholic existential affair about coming to terms with loss or an uncompromising movie about survival with rather over-the-top scenes saying something like “Liam Neeson is the new MacGyver/Bear Grylls/Chuck Norris". Both approaches work well alone, but they clash with each other too much in this picture. And that’s a shame. (12/03/2012)

I will gladly forgive this movie that it had some crazy pig behind the camera, who turned every action sequence into a crazy mishmash of cluttered and mostly unnecessarily spectacular something that had very little in common with a well-edited movie… Unnecessarily, because I actually got almost nothing out of the action. On the other hand, I have to say that I had a feeling as if this movie didn’t even want to interest with the action, but rather with the scenery and the locations as such. Liam Neeson showed off again as an awesome guy, worn out by one life fuck up after another, and it looks like the last one is going to take him down. Anyway, the fight is awesome, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing and Liam is simply divine. In the end, maybe those three simple reasons are what made me give the film four stars. (13/05/2013)

After the mixed reviews (very well received by American critics and IMBD users, but considerably worse on Filmbooster; the action trailers are apparently misleading), I forgot my expectations of a tense action survival movie and went to the cinema with an open mind, ready for anything and willing to let Carnahan to please me as he saw fit. Unfortunately, mate, you didn’t make me very happy. Technically speaking, The Grey is gorgeous, but the script grinds and can’t decide what the prevailing theme will be: horror atmosphere, brutal attacks by wolves, blokeish adventure survival, a study of relationships between castaways, a philosophical analysis of the desire to fight and live… In the end it’s about everything and nothing. As a parable, it does work somehow, but otherwise, I have mixed feelings about it. In order to overcome all those little things that bothered me, that “effective” parable would have to be much sharper. Disappointment and 6/10. PS: This film has grown on me after some time, I might give it another chance. (09/03/2012)

Such a relaxed boyish outdoor film - they flew in, camped, they opened a bottle of Jack, talked about God, whores, children, and sometimes someone was eaten by a wolf. In my opinion, Carnahan's attempt at a harsh survival drama has nothing to do with horror, and rather it is much more of the director's attempt at a serious existential theme that is overwhelmed by the strange artificial taste of digital "evil" and digital epic. The decor suits the film very well, Liam Neeson suits it, Streitenfeld's lyrical music also suits it (I would rather expect such music in a Nordic film)... but it hurts the film a lot that Carnahan has a tendency to tighten the cruelty and ruthlessness of nature ad absurdum: I can imagine that as a raw drama without a single digital touch, this could be a brilliant theme for Peter Weir. Carnahan's attempt to go for meat and blood is lost - not because it is less effective, but rather because it exaggerates the effects unnecessarily. I don't deny him partial things. The introduction and conclusion are as strong as a bear's neck. But the effort to keep dialogues above the level of pathos and empty proclamations are not as successful. The Grey is a film that tries to get moving with the handbrake on. At the same time, it's a pretty ironic image that our wildlife imagery is bounded by Hollywood movies, the Discovery Chanel and CGI effects. But Carnahan wanted to show us exactly what is missing in these images (the spiritual transcendence of existence betrayed at the mercy of the wilderness). And it didn't work out for him. When one of the characters shouts, "You are not animals, we are animals," he is wrong. There are no animals in this movie. It therefore lacks even a hint of fascination with anything other than campfire metaphysics. (16/03/2012)