“Wolves are the only animal that kill for revenge.” I’m not sure if that’s true but it doesn’t bode well for Liam Neeson and company in The Grey. The Grey is an intense, jump out of your seat thriller set in the Alaskan tundra. It follows a group of men who survived a catastrophic plane crash and are now fighting for their lives against the horrid temperatures and a pack of man-eating wolves. Lucky for them, Ottway (Liam Neeson) was paid to kill wolves in the wilderness and has trained himself to know everything about them. Did I say lucky or unlucky?
The sound of the movie in the beginning is striking. The way director Joe Carnahan uses it to bring you in and out of scenes is frightening. It’s actually more scary than most of the recent horror films that have come out. The plane crash itself is a heart-pumping experience and that takes place very early in the film. The deafening winds of winter and howling of the wolves take over as they terrify you without being seen. It almost gets to a point where it’s unbearable but then you have to realize the conditions that these guys are in and they can’t turn it off…so why should you?
Liam Neeson = badass
Only a handful of men survived the crash and their numbers dwindle as the story goes on. It’s a game of survival and these men don’t know how to play the game. Except for Ottway, that is, who takes charge and sets out a plan to live. After recent movies like Unknown, The A-Team, and Taken, Liam has cemented himself as a bad ass man’s man so it’s fitting that he’s an adventurous grizzly man that doesn’t take bullshit from anybody. He’s the alpha and everything else in the movie – including the wolves – are omegas. A couple more roles like this and Liam Neeson is going to end up in the Expendables 3.
Let's play who's gonna die first?
I loved the script. I really liked how the men interacted with each other and what they actually said. It was a great mix of movie lines and real dialogue making you think that this is how it might actually go down. The different personalities from Diaz (Frank Grillo) to Talget (Dermot Mulroney), Hendrick (Dallas Roberts), Flannery (Joe Anderson) and Burke (Nonso Anozie) make it easy to fit in with the group. There are different opinions, reactions, and stereotypes that any audience member can empathize with. The story and filming was also impressive as they took you through a lot of different scenarios. You’ll be glad to know that you won’t just be following these guys through snow for two hours.
The whole cast and crew must have been freezing the entire time of production
This isn’t another action-packed fighting movie – it’s more about perseverance and will to survive. The Grey tests your own endurance as it holds very few things back. It will scare you, it will make you think and it might piss you off in the end. You never know what can happen next and some of the twists might surprise you. I definitely recommend watching this movie but it can wait for DVD or TV. There’s nothing really gained from watching it, it’s more of a nice way to pass the time on a plane ride or night in. One thing is for sure though, if you don’t have a good sound system, you should watch The Grey in theaters, because that sound mixing will make you jump – guaranteed. Stay til the end of the credits if you’re into that kind of thing but there’s not much there.
Tags: Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Joe Anderson, Joe Carnahan, Liam Neeson, Nonso Anozie, The Grey
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
