The Gray Man

The Gray Man is about as sophisticated as Arnold’s Commando, but the opulent, senseless destruction and action led by the highly amusing Chris "Lloyd" Evans is well worth it. Exotic and more familiar locations run past you like on a conveyor belt. Gosling enjoys his bored, idiosyncratic agent and Billy Bob is pretty fine too. A pleasant Netflix B-movie which is all the better for the fact that I and my family had the chance to watch the best scenes of it being filmed. "Get comfortable" like we're going to Prague, or... or, like, jail comfortable? (2022-07-23)

Less would have been more. Take the final man-on-man fight, for example, it’s absolutely brilliant, gripping, entertaining, thrilling and yet quite modestly conceived, and compare it to the main action scene, which unfortunately takes place in Prague, it wants to be spectacular but is at best awkward and gives the impression that it's only in the film because someone wanted it there, even though it doesn't make much sense. This film should ideally have been an hour and a half long and trimmed of the unnecessary stuff and some of the characters, it could have focused more on Gosling's likable bulldog and Evans's 80's funny but not ridiculous villain, it could have kept the action down to earth where it suits the Russo's (the night fight in the house, another great scene). Netflix didn't have to present it so grandly... And it would have been better. (2022-07-23)

Compared to Bourne, The Gray Man is a lot dumber and more B-ish. Compared to Bond, it’s less stylish. Compared to Hunt, it’s less imaginative. But if you throw out the attempts to compare to him the greatest heroes of spy-action movies, he actually doesn't come out nearly as bad. The premise is already a B-movie washout, so it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that the movie will be similarly off. The opening scene in Bangkok would easily stand up to a Bond film, but then it takes almost an hour before anything really interesting and entertaining starts happening. And no, I don’t mean trying to go in depth with flat heroes and trying to describe the behind-the-scenes practices of CIA agents who don't even trust each other. Once the action shifts to Prague, however, and the tram set-piece you couldn't help but read about kicks in, it becomes fully apparent that The Gray Man may have had bigger ambitions, but only on paper. If the film and the audience can come to terms with the fact that it's a big overpriced action B-movie, they can enjoy it as much as I did. The Russo's may go a little overboard with the drones and the stunts could have been better handled, but the action is truly spectacular, imaginative and you can see the budget. Chris Evans is a fine asshole, Ryan Gosling doesn't offend, but it's not his life role, and Ana de Armas relies on acting cute even though she has two rocket launchers on her back and a grenade launcher in her hand. If you find that idea funny and entertaining rather than awkward and ridiculous, chances are you'll enjoy this solid action flick. Netflix may have wanted more, and it's not great by any means. On the other hand, if The Gray Man catches on and we get a sequel, I'll gladly spend those two hours with them again. (2022-07-24)

I feel that that writing anything about this film is like carrying wood into the forest. For the grandiose statements of Netflix and the considerable expectations of the audience, it turned out to be kind of mediocre, but, let's be honest, not exactly the rubbish product that was Red Notice (aka the second most expensive Netflix production), and you can have fun with The Gray Man (especially thanks to Chris Evans, who really enjoys the psychopathic villain with the moustache). (2022-09-10)

A beautiful action film with a poor-man's tram in the lead, an upstanding Ryan Gosling and a maniacal Chris Evans in a seemingly old-fashioned espionage ride – which, however, fails in the screenplay so hard that I couldn't believe it when I saw the names of the writers. That this comes from the same writers who managed to put together a series of clever, entertaining, and touching character meetings from different parts of the Avengers universe? Maybe not. On the other hand, it would explain why ordinary agents (even when they're being watched) seem able to move from one end of the world to the other in but a few minutes. It's a shame; the entertainment is pleasantly unrestrained and pure popcorn, but equally stupid with unpleasant frequency. (2024-03-25)