#MovieReview: Big-budget blandness evident in The Gray Man
The Gray Man is just fine, a middling, disappointing effort from a group of people who could have delivered something far better.
Despite having every ingredient to kick off a new blockbuster franchise, The Gray Man delivers a largely tasteless appetiser.
The most recent offering from streaming giant Netflix reportedly cost more than $200-million to produce, with only a few cents ostensibly going to the script.
The remainder was spent on securing A-list talent and a litany of shooting locations across almost every continent you can think of.
Sure, it looks expensive, but so does the Grade 1 art project of the child of a billionaire – it doesn’t indicate any taste.
Increasingly, it seems as if Netflix is trying to produce a series of short vignettes, rather than a cogent two-hour movie in its new releases.
Chopping onions? Put on the bold and colourful New Year’s Eve fight scene.
Trying to kill 10 minutes before your Uber arrives?
Enjoy the beautiful vistas of a Croatian castle.
Thinking of sitting down to watch an enjoyable full length movie?
Sorry, but you’re going to have to look elsewhere.
Mild spoilers to follow.
Ryan Gosling is the titular Gray Man, a convict with a ‘special set of skills’ that can be utilised by a shady wing of the CIA.
He is taken out of prison to be used for secret operations where there will be minimal blowback if something goes awry because he is expendable.
When hired to kill another of the gray men, Sierra Six (Gosling’s code name) becomes suspicious of his employers.
This sets off a world-hopping series of capers where he never knows who to trust, while the CIA hires other underworld figures to chase him down.
It should be flat out fun, with a series of well executed set pieces in picturesque parts of the world.
But this movie is strangely devoid of real levity and is not serious enough to be the new Jason Bourne or lean enough in its scope to be John Wick.
What is left is big budget blandness with only fleeting moments of popcorn entertainment, largely when the always watchable Ana de Armas is on screen.
It is meant to set off the next major spy action franchise, with most contemporary options such as Bourne, Wick and OSS 117 finished for now and James Bond in a moment of transition.
Serious changes in tone and execution are needed if The Gray Man is going to rival any of those for longevity.
Rated PG-13 for Violence and some Language. 2/5.
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