Review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=610

A gritty and exciting tale of survival and the wilderness. The film is expertly directed by Joe Carnahan, who infuses the film with tension throughout. This movie should also be commended for having more three-dimensional characters than the types who usually infuse these films. Liam Neeson non-surprisingly takes center stage and delivers a commanding performance, but he is ably supported by the rest of the cast. It's a brisk film that feels shorter than its actual running time, and I had a good time holding my breath for a lot of it. B+

The Grey makes The Edge look like Homeward Bound

Some real intense scenes, good acting, and a real sense of despair throughout. Nice to see Dermot Mulroney in a non romantic comedy role. I think I still like the edge better as I love Mamet's writing in that, but this feels much less hollywood and more true.

B+

Good acting and nice splashes of style as one would expect from Joe Carnahan... But I can't deny feeling a little bit let-down. The ending was appropriate, but anyone whose seen the marketing will understand how one could find it anti-climactic. Maybe I'll appreciate it more further down the line, but I have to complain about the repetitive nature of the film's structure. Soderbergh said that micro-editing has never been better while macro-editing has never been worse, and The Grey reinforces my belief that he was right. There's a lot of interesting, if somewhat fussy, editing that can't stop lots of scenes from feeling like they dragged, perhaps because as the film goes on it becomes easier to predict what directions things will go.

Don't get me wrong, I'm always down with a good outdoor survival movie. I just felt like this fell somewhere between Sanctum and 127 Hours, perhaps even a rung down from Frozen, which for the record I believe is the most terrifying movie that will ever be made about people trapped on a ski lift.

Just found out there is a post credits sequence, Dammit!

The whole movie is really intense, but I wasn't a fan of that ending, or the after-credits "scene."

I liked the ending. Did people really want to see Neeson wrestle a giant CGI wolf?

But the rest of the movie suffers from a disconnect between the ridiculousness of the action scenes and the hyper-realism of the rest. Too many times a wolf attacks out of nowhere, instead of building up suspense, and the camera always seems to go into a seizure at that point. It doesn't fit with the steady, careful construction of most of the film.

Still, I liked it, even if the characters are more like stock types than real people.

The Grey
Do not believe everything you see in the trailer. It's not action-packed and there is not a duel between Liam Neeson and a wolf. It doesn't happen. Instead, the film cuts to the credits. Bit of a let down actually. There were a few good scenes, but seeing it on DVD would have been better, and cheaper.
B-

What?? Why would they do that? Do they intentionally want to annoy people that have paid to see the film? 99.999999% of people leave when the first name comes up in the credits.

Well, after knowing that, my grade falls even further now. Down a D-. That's pissed me off.

That's not the point of the ending (a duel between Neeson and the alpha). The point is that he has decided to fight to his (probable) death, and that's really all the audience needs to know when the film ends.

Libs, I know very well how to read film, thanks, but the marketing for The Grey plays on the fact that they have a duel, so clearly people are going to be waiting for that to happen. When it does not; people get disappointed.

Well, then 99.999999% of people are dumb morons. Movie ain't over until the FINAL roll stops, and credits are included in the films length time info, so...

Quite more talky then I expected, chuckled at the Alive referencing. Overall pretty solid.

Sorry. I don't buy that at all. The fucking ushers and cleaners were waiting to come in and clean. That's kind of a cue that the film is over. It's a failed attempt at being modern, in my opinion.

Hmm it was okay however if you were not going to show the big duel why have so much buildup to it.

I was watching this with all my cousins and found the ending lame.

I realized about the credits now but still very lame way at being different.

Liam Neeson won the duel, took control of the pack and went to get his daughter back from terrorists. This is all being saved for the sequel.

B+

lol maybe I am simpleton but I enjoyed Taken a lot more. It has a bunch of flaws buts it quite a simple pleasing film.

The line in Taken when Nesson threatens the kidnapers is sooo epic!

The Grey ends up being caught in a mix of what it wants to be. If it ended up being a real deep psychological piece with everything that transpires, then this would have been something else. However, mixing in ridiculous and cheap horror elements while spending minimal time with the psychological elements acknowledged, makes this film a pass. *1/2

Watched this Saturday night. I really enjoyed the tension it built, and it made good use of the wolves and how intimidating they are in numbers. I liked how they made the killings brutal. But I wasn't a big fan of the ending. I mean... it's fine and all... but he's gonna die, why not show me it? (No, I didn't FF to the after credit scene, which they shouldn't have even included.)

B

He beat the wolf.

Not a fan.

I so wanted to love The Grey. It was a good film apart from misleading advertising. Still a B-, though.

I didn't say he didn't.