Sunday, 5 February 2012

The Grey - Mike Gregory




Let me first start out by saying this type of movie is right up my alley, so I may be a little biased here.  Any movie with people trying to survive against a giant creature, monster or vicious animal out to kill them will get a watch from me.  I watched Anaconda 2, Komodo and Abominable, a lance henrickson yeti movie….so

On that note, I really enjoyed the Grey.  Directed by Joe Carnahan, whose last movie The A-Team, also starring Liam Neeson was a really pleasant surprise.  I’m definitely on board for his next movie, whatever its about.  The trailers make the movie out to be Liam Neeson vs. Wolves, but it’s much more than that.  The movie is a tense, well paced, story of survival not only against the wolves, but also the elements, their own hunger, and a test of their faith.   The characters were surprisingly well developed, and not just wolf food, they have families and loved ones they want to get back to and reasons to fight to stay alive.  You genuinely care for them, and feel for them whenever someone does die.   I loved the power struggle between the people as well, and how it directly mirrored the wolves.  If I remember correctly, not longer after one of the wolves challenges the alpha, the same thing happens with the survivors with one character challenging the alpha for leadership of the group.  Faith also plays a large role in the movie, with both sides represented.  Some with blind faith, everything happens for a reason attitudes, and others who don’t buy it at all.  There was a scene with one of the characters begging for help, “show me a sign”, with a very cool outcome.

The wolves were made to look very evil and demonic.  Glowing eyes, snarling jaws, and a blood thirsty look on their face. They did look somewhat unrealistic in some scenes, but it was not distracting at all.  It fits well with the movie, and makes it seem almost like a monster movie.   The sound design also really helped with the suspenseful feel of the movie.  Hearing the wolves howling from everywhere around you was chilling. I can’t wait to re watch the movie at home on my own system. The plane crash sounded fantastic as well. The scene right after the crash had an impressive effect, with the sound alternating between the blizzard, and silence as the survivors struggle to regain consciousness, and figure out what’s going on.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was not a satisfying ending for me.  There is an after credit scene though, so stay for that though.  Overall I really enjoyed the movie. The story was consistently entertaining, Liam Neeson was amazing as usual and the movie was so much more than just him vs Wolves. It deals with people’s faith, purpose in life and reason to go on.  Neeson struggles to keep going on after losing his wife, with her away he doesn’t know what to do, until he’s thrown into a situation where he has to fight to survive, and he actually has the will to keep living.  I definitely recommend this movie, I had a great time watching it.

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