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The Grey (2012)

Director: Joe Carnahan

Time Out rating

Average user rating

21 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Liam Neeson’s unexpected but lucrative shift into marquee action-man territory has at best resulted in fun junk like ‘Taken’, at worst in Eurotrash drivel like ‘Unknown’. With ‘The Grey’, he’s officially broken the slump: the film was developed as a vehicle for Bradley Cooper, but it’s hard to imagine his pretty face at the centre of this terse, rock-solid survival thriller. This is a prime example of the right role for the right man at the right time – as Joe Carnahan’s camera lingers over those steel-blue eyes and that expressionless face, as craggy and rugged as the Alaskan landscape, it’s easy to believe that Neeson is, in fact, harder than a pack of wolves.

Neeson is Ottway, a hard-bitten hunter stranded at an oil outpost. When his plane back to civilisation crashes in the frozen wastes, Ottway must lead a ragtag band of survivors to safety. But surviving blizzards and scaling ravines is one thing, dealing with timber wolves quite another.

After the excesses of ‘The A-Team’, this is Carnahan stripping it back to basics – seven men, one wilderness, countless beasts. His directorial hand is firm: the action sequences thrill, the shocks are effective and if the characters are somewhat slight and the dialogue scenes overlong, the film has a streamlined, Hawksian narrative drive which carries it through the rough spots. Best of all, though, is Big Liam: sharp, surly and mean as hell, he’s as close as we’ll get to a modern John Wayne – and who saw that coming?

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2162: January 26-February 1, 2012

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User reviews of this film

Ash said...

Posted on Mar 07 2012 14:11 As others have said, behaviour of the wolves was ridiculous in this film. They make stupid whining noises in the background all the time (predators don't just make noise like this for no reason, it scares off the prey). They follow the humans for no reason. They seem to have the strength of a Jaguar or a small lion. They send in an Omega male to "test" the strength of the humans. This is after already killing several of them, I might add. What, did they develop language? Are the other wolves out hiding in the bushes watching the whole thing through binoculars. And how the hell would a wolfpack survive by sending in individuals to get killed so they can test their prey? Oh, and the movie, even not considering the CGI wolves, looks fake thanks to the fact that most of the wide/long shots have really crappy CGI backgrounds. Even the distortion of Liam Neeson's face due to hot air refraction from the campfire is CGI. I could go on and on, but this was a really shit movie.

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Mar 05 2012 23:14 The Wolves did eat the humans in this. They hunt all sorts (except adult Grizzlies). I love Wildlife and just finished researching Wolves. Very accurate behaviour in this movie. It's not for everyone.But it was a quality movie of survival. A combination of The Edge and Alive. Recommended highly!!

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Bella said...

Posted on Feb 27 2012 08:22 @Daneil; I'm glad you enjoyed the film, it takes all sorts. Yes, wolves are territorial, yes, they do hunt. No, they do not attack like that for pleasure. No, they do not persistently hunt people across huge stretches of land for no apparent reason other than to kill them without eating them. Alpha wolves do not 'test' humans as the film made out, wolves aren't capable of thinking like that. And they certainly never send in their omega pack member to test to the strengths and weaknesses of their human prey. That is simply not how a wolf pack works.

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Daneil said...

Posted on Feb 27 2012 05:37 First of all I truly belive this to be a wonderful movie and very realistic. People you need to stop complaining of the CGI, none of CGI is perfect. As a producer I see this film to be very believable. For all the negative comments about the wolves, do some research wolves are very territorial and do hunt! Also, heading to the trees is a common sense idea, lower wind, source of water, more habitats. DUH One of you critiques comment on why they didnt tie themselves together - My question is with what. they made there own choices in that scenario you dont know how you truly react until faced in that situation. Overall I loved it and Neeson was at his BEST

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Bella said...

Posted on Feb 22 2012 15:38 This film was just plain bad. The characters were cardboard, most of the film was clearly shot on a set, hence the lack of breath-fog in the supposedly sub-zero temperatures, the wolves were poor CGI and behaved absolutely nothing like real wolves. Even I know that wolves don't behave the way they did in the film. Added to that, characters making absurd decisions like 'let's head to the trees because we'll be safe there.' Yeah, okay, not sure about that. And of course none of them think to rope themselves together for safety while trekking through a blizzard. Basics of survival there, guys. Or my favourite 'If we head for running water we might find a cabin.' Why? Why would you find a cabin in the middle of a frozen tundra? Who could possibly be living out there? The film had all the trappings of a good thriller but ultimately failed on every single level. At the cop-out ending, everyone in the cinema laughed. Need I say more?

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rose said...

Posted on Feb 18 2012 18:42 plane crash scene excellent, Liam Neeson excellent. Story not believable I cant imagine a pack of woolves would hunt down humans because they felt threatened.C.G.I woolves dissappointing - growling like lions and acting out of characture. The scene by the camp fire when one very large black one attacked them, when they had fought and killed it and were cooking it in a spit it was grey and half the size. Could have been a realy good film

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Feb 18 2012 15:33 One of the best movies I've seen in cinema in 20 Years!! Might be a bit too realistic for some who wanted the fairytale ending. Liam is superb in this. I like the way they didn't drag out the plane crash. Its all about post crash matters. Battling the elements and the owners of the tresspassed territory makes this film a gripping, tense movie. I agree its a bit of a 'lads movie' but is that so bad?? Highly recommended to movie and cinema lovers. Can't speak more highly of it!!

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Pilee said...

Posted on Feb 18 2012 12:11 Boring & bulsit . Its waste our tlme

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critique said...

Posted on Feb 16 2012 16:03 Excellent survival drama with beautiful locations and shuddering sound effects. The terrifying plane crash is almost worth the price of admission alone and Neeson is perfectly rugged, a fantastic antidote to most of today`s bland leading men.

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john said...

Posted on Feb 11 2012 21:15 A very well made film with some amazing scenes.Neeson is as always brilliant .This was entertainment at its best.Am totally bewildered that some of the comments here are negative towards the film.Did they see the same one as I did? Totally authentic and deserving of five stars.Go and see it!!

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rogerrabbit said...

Posted on Feb 09 2012 12:59 had all the makings of a edge of the seat drama/thriller !!!did manage to get me to edge of my seat in 24mins !! as i was utterly bored to tears would not even rate this so bad

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rogerrabbit said...

Posted on Feb 09 2012 12:59 had all the makings of a edge of the seat drama/thriller !!!did manage to get me to edge of my seat in 24mins !! as i was utterly bored to tears would not even rate this so bad

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mister_x said...

Posted on Feb 07 2012 18:37 this film could have been so good but it was by the numbers in so many ways, and worse, really quite boring. the whole under seige concept, where theyre stuck in the middle of nowhere under attack by wolves shouldve been really exciting, instead, what you get is an attempt at something more meaningful - men bonding under adversity - except that this strand of the film is cliche and ineffective too. in the end all youre left with is liam neeson, who is great, and perfectly grizzled, but still not able to do much with a seriously limp script, amazing scenery, and average CGI wolves. very dissapointing as ive read good things about this so was hoping for something a bit more thrilling. taken and unknown were much better! guessing the director wanted to prove he could do something good after the a-team. he didnt!

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Danuta in Glasgow said...

Posted on Feb 03 2012 09:34 Despite reading the above reviews I went to see it for myself. It's a good action drama which keeps you in suspense all the way thru and had me jumping out of my skin enough times. OK so some of the stunts are a bit hard to believe but other things make up for this - like the wolves eyes shining in the black night and their howls, and the noise of the winds around them all. You do feel the fear and the cold as if you were there. The scenery is amazing and Mr Neeson is brilliant in this film - he doesn't do a bad film!

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Blaize67 said...

Posted on Feb 01 2012 12:09 P.S....and some rediculous ideas like "let's head for the trees, we will bew safe from the wolves there!" really?

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