The Grey (2012)

Directed by Joe Carnahan

Starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, and Dermot Mulroney

 

the-grey-poster

 

In the middle of the Alaska, John Ralph Ottway works at an Oil drilling plant as a protector of the workers from the wild wolves that roam the area. Acting as a sniper he takes down any that get close. Not in a good place personally Ottway doesn’t know what to do with his life but all this changes when the plane home crashes and he, along with several other survivors, must survive the freezing conditions and the wild wolves.

 

The film is a lot more serious and real than I expected and deals with Neeson’s character trying to get through his life. You see flashes to his home life and you know he has some personal issues that he has not dealt with properly. When the plane goes down he jumps right into survival mode knowing that the wolves that he is trained to take out will soon be after them.

Some of the CG on the wolves looks a bit dodgy and they have covered it up well with close up shots that are mostly in the dark of the night. There is a reveal of Ottway’s personal life towards the end which makes earlier points understandable and gives the character real depth.

 

Recommend

This was a very serious film with some gruesome deaths. It was an enjoyable film and went against the Hollywood way of thinking but was not up there with the best and there was less action than I was expecting. Still worth a watch.

TheFriedGold rating – 6/10 – Neeson dances with wolves

 

Film Fact

Bradley Cooper was cast as a much-younger lead character in the lead role, but he was eventually replaced by Neeson.