Review of 'The Gray Man'
An ex-convict earns his freedom when recruited by CIA operative Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) then trained to become a brutal assassin known as “Sierra Six” (Ryan Gosling). When Six comes into possession of evidence incriminating Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a contractor working for the CIA that takes advantage of it's resources for his own purposes, Lloyd sends an army of killers to retrieve it. After dispatching the killers Lloyd resorts to kidnapping Fitzroy's niece and demanding the return of the evidence.
With the director being “The Russo Brothers” (of “Avengers” and “Captain America” fame) you know that this is going to feature lots of guns and big battle sequences. You would be correct. There is quite a lot of imaginative violence throughout but it is spectacle only with little in the way of actual human responses from the characters, indeed, you can count on one hand the number of times Gosling breaks his expression from a slightly, steely, smile. Don't expect any more emotion from Thornton even when his niece is threatened. It is just guns, guns, knife, guns…all around but, again, it does look quite good particularly the Croatian castle on the lake that features in the later part of the film.
Mindless, though spectacular, action, and brutal violence with a marginally interesting but wafer-thin story and little in the way of emotion. Watch, perhaps enjoy a bit, and forget.
Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2022-08-07
Directed by: Russo Brothers
Studio: AGBO
Year: 2022
Length: 122 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649418/
Other reviewed films by Russo Brothers:
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)