The Gray Man – Movie review: Do Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans convince in Netflix’s answer to “Mission Impossible”?

Although Netflix is ​​desperately looking for new subscribers, “The Gray Man” shows no sign of any financial difficulties. The action thriller by Anthony and Joe Russo (“Avengers: Endgame”) is said to have cost 200 million US dollars, together with “Red Notice” the most expensive film production of the streaming service.

These high costs are associated with great ambitions: “The Gray Man” is intended to serve as the prelude to a new blockbuster franchise, an American answer to James Bond. The “The Gray Man” novels by author Mark Greaney, who also took over the “Jack Ryan” series after the death of Tom Clancy, serve as a template here.

But does Netflix’s plan work? Is “The Gray Man” a must for action fans or Netflix uniformity with many prominent faces? The answer lies somewhere in between. On a positive note, the Russo brothers understand that the focus here is on the action and it’s supposed to be fun. She does that over long stretches, is extremely entertaining, but of course doesn’t reinvent the wheel.

The plot, on the other hand, is hardly worth mentioning: Ryan Gosling plays Sierra Six, the sixth member of the CIA’s secretive Sierra program, which bails out promising young inmates and trains them into agents who officially don’t exist.

When Six is ​​sent on an assignment to one of his predecessors and the latter hands him information that weighs heavily on Six’s new CIA operations manager, Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), the hunt for Six begins. Carmichael engages Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) for this, who did not get far with the CIA due to his rabid methods, but now uses every means as a private entrepreneur to fulfill his orders.

Most Bond films and series like “Mission Impossible” don’t have the most exciting plot, but at best there is a touch of unpredictability that keeps the tension boiling. That’s what “The Gray Man” is missing. In the beginning the action is enough, Gosling and Evans also do a good job and deliver entertaining dialogues that you’ve often heard in films of this kind in one way or another.

But in the second hour, at least between the action scenes, the film runs out of steam. The story is just too predictable, everything is heading towards the expected showdown. In addition, there can hardly be any real tension during the action. Sure, we know Six is ​​unlikely to die after 45 minutes, but so is Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, who still manages to get the audience’s adrenaline pumping with his daring (and often real) stunts.

This is how “The Gray Man” turned out to be a successful film that, with a running time of almost 110 minutes (plus 15 minutes of credits), was not unnecessarily lengthened. You can easily forgive him for his mistakes, also because the demands on a streaming film are usually somewhat lower. But whether Netflix’s goals can be met with this form of useful entertainment remains questionable.

No question, “The Gray Man” will jump to the top of the streaming service’s top 10 as soon as it starts, and a short time later Netflix will proudly announce that the film has broken various new records and is one of the most successful in-house productions. But will anyone else be talking about “The Gray Man” in the fall of 2022? And will the Gosling/Evans combo make non-Netflix movie fans reconsider?

The Ok Man

Existing Netflix customers who are not averse to action cinema will have a good time with “The Gray Man”. Entertaining action and big stars belie a weak and predictable plot for long stretches, but big highlights are missing, which is why “The Gray Man” hardly stays in the memory for a long time.

age rating	from 12 years
Duration	128 minutes
release	22 July 2022
budget	$200,000,000
Post Credit Scene	✘

occupation

• Alfred Woodard

  Margaret Cahill

• Ana de Armas

  Dani Miranda

• Billy Bob Thornton

  Donald Fitzroy

• Chris Evans

  Lloyd Hansen

• Dhanush

  Avik San

• Eme Ikwuakor

  Mr Felix

• Jessica Henwick

  Suzanne Brewer

• Julia Butters

  Claire Fitzroy

• Regé-Jean Page

  Denny Carmichael

• Ryan Gosling

  Court Gentry

• Scott Haze

  –

• Wagner Moura

  –

Who is streaming The Gray Man?

Buy and rent The Gray Man

genre

directing

script

• Christopher Markus
• Joe Russo
• Stephen McFeeley

producers

• Anthony Russo
• Chris Castaldi
• Christopher Markus
• Geoffrey Haley
• Jake Aust
• Jeff Kirschenbaum
• Joe Roth
• Joe Russo
• Mike Larocca
• Palak Patel
• Patrick Newall
• Stephen McFeeley
• Zack Roth

production companies

• AGBO

• Stillking Films

• Roth-Kirschenbaum Films

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