The Gray Man: Colorfully overblown

The Gray Man (2022) • View trailer

Three stars (out of five). Rated PG-13, for intense violence and action, and some profanity

Available via: Netflix

By Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 7.29.22

Given the often exaggerated genre we’re dealing with, this film trundles along reasonably well … until most of downtown Prague — and its entire police force — are blown to bits during the dog-nuts second act (apparently without sparking an international incident).

 

With scores of gun-toting thugs laying waste to downtown Prague while trying to kill him,
Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling) is about to make clever use of a passing tram.

In their obvious efforts to kick-start a new franchise, scripters Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have retained very little of Mark Greaney’s 2009 espionage thriller (first in a series of 11 books thus far). Russo and co-director Anthony Russo have uncorked a fast-paced loner-against-the-world saga which — despite becoming increasingly preposterous — ticks all the boxes for folks seeking mindless thrills.

And, in fairness, we get a solid set of (quasi) good guys, victims in peril, and some very very bad guys.

 

During a brief prologue set 18 years in the past, Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) is rescued from a lengthy prison sentence by upper-echelon CIA handler Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton).

 

“What’s the catch?” Gentry asks.

 

“You come work for us,” Fitzroy replies.

 

Turns out Gentry has mad assassin skills, but — as the first action sequence reveals, once we bounce back to the present day — also possesses a strong desire to avoid collateral civilian damage. Gentry has become a highly valued member of Fitzroy’s dark-ops “Sierra” program, his identity submerged beneath the code-name Sierra Six, or simply Six: aka the Gray Man.

 

Unfortunately, Fitzroy was pushed into retirement a few years back, his place taken by the ruthlessly ambitious Agency Group Chief Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page, suitably condescending), who lacks his predecessor’s scruples. Worse yet — for reasons not immediately revealed — he has no use for the Sierra program, and is busily “cleaning house” in a lethal manner.

 

This doesn’t sit well with Deputy Group Chief Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), who regards her boss as reckless and arrogant. She spends the entire film barking objections at his heels, to the point of turning into a tiresome nag. It’s not a well-crafted role, and Henwick brings nothing to the party.

 

When Six accidentally gains possession of intel that would destroy Carmichael’s career, the latter hires charming, kill-crazy psychopath Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to terminate the final link in the Sierra chain.

 

Hansen, who torments his targets for sport, is introduced while torturing some poor schlub; we therefore know he’s Not A Nice Guy.

 

Ah, but Six isn’t about to go quietly. As the globe-trotting action shifts from Los Angeles to France, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Austria and Azerbaijan, he proves remarkably resilient … even when Hansen augments his own mercenary buddies with “every black-ops assassination team in the world.”

 

(The brothers Russo — veterans of two Captain America entries and the two-part Avengers finale — aren’t known for subtle filmmaking.)

 

Fortunately, Six isn’t entirely without support, although it’s difficult to know whether he really can trust plucky CIA agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas). Although not beloved by Carmichael, she hasn’t entirely burned all of her bridges; neither — as events begin — has she decided whether Six is worth risking her career.

 

Finally, Hansen’s leverage: Fitzroy’s 12-year-old niece, Claire (Julia Butters). This poor girl already has dealt with the loss of her parents, and an ongoing heart condition that requires a pacemaker; the last thing she needs is to become a pawn in Hansen’s gleefully callous hands.

 

Films this overblown live or die on the basis of characters and their interactions, and this one is acceptable in that department. Despite surviving explosive skirmishes that would task even Superman, Six is reasonably human; he isn’t merely a grimly taciturn killing machine in the mold of Keanu Reeves’ John Wick. 

 

Gosling is a much better actor, and he imbues Six with pain, regret and resolve. We get a sense that he has embraced this world simply because he can’t do anything else; brief flashbacks also reveal the less-than-ideal childhood that set him on this path. Another, longer, flashback showcases the strong bond he has developed with Claire; Gosling and Butters establish a genuinely sweet and touching “family” tie.

 

That contrasts with the delightfully snarky rapport Six and Dani share; they’re a lot of fun. Indeed, de Armas gets this opportunity to improve upon her kick-ass sequence at James Bond’s side, in No Time to Die, and she definitely delivers.

 

Evans is a hoot as the snide, swaggering Hansen (the actor apparently doing his best to eliminate the possibility of being forever typecast as goody-two-shoes Captain America). His pencil-thin mustache is a droll affectation, as are his increasingly frustrated temper tantrums, when Six somehow survives each new assault.

 

The effectively understated Thornton is excellent as Fitzroy, one of this story’s few believably grounded characters. Nobody can touch Thornton for quiet and yet forcefully lethal line deliveries, and Fitzroy has some great exchanges with Hansen. The equally capable Alfre Woodard pops up briefly as former CIA bureau chief Margaret Cahill, now retired and living a quiet life in Prague.

 

The Russos, along with editors Jeff Froth and Pietro Scalia, execute the increasingly ludicrous mayhem with panache, although cinematographer Stephen F. Windon relies too frequently on cocked camera angles and vertigo-inducing drone shots.

 

A colleague once explained that her satisfaction with films of this nature depends upon “sufficient revenge” in the third act. On that basis, some viewers may be annoyed by this one, since the filmmakers eschew a truly cathartic finale in favor of the obvious desire to set up a sequel (and, indeed, Gray Man 2 is in the works as these words are typed).

Meanwhile, The Gray Man delivers plenty of mostly mindless, well-paced — if often unlikely — action. As silly popcorn flicks go, it’s not a bad way to spend two hours.