by The Kent film blog, by Lewis Dyson
Sunday, February 12 2012
Liam Neeson has fashioed a niche for himself as the preeminent portrayer of no nonsense, man of action types. His latest film, The Grey, sees him continue on this current carer trajectory, along the same lines as his previous roles in Taken and Unknown.
But let's clear something up: Neeson is NOT a bad actor; in fact his performance in Joe Carnahan's latest offering proves just that. You cannot deny the guy has a charisma and a screen presence that draws you in. Yes, he is in danger of becoming typecast and, judging from his cameo appearance in Ricky Gervais' hit-and-miss sitcom Life's Too Short, even he is poking fun at his serious on-screen alter-ego. But he is easily the highlight of The Grey and he manages to hold the emotional weight of the film squarely on his shoulders.
As for the film itself, it is a solid survival drama that tells the tale of a group of Alaskan oil drillers stranded after the plane home from their remote outpost crash lands in the icy wilderness. The survivors then find themselves beset by a pack of wolves, who see them as intruders and are intent on killing them off one by one. Conveniently, a man named Ottway (Neeson), who was hired to protect the workers from wolves, also made it and he now has to lead the handful of men to safety.
One thing The Grey has going for it is that is so bleak and brutal. There is a distinct lack of clichéd moments of bravery and the plot keeps you guessing enough not to leave you completely indifferent. Although, you are never really given the chance to care about what happens to the supporting characters, as they are little more than pawns in a game of chess between Ottway and the Wolves.
There are some really suspenseful scenes and director Joe Carnahan clearly realises that what you can't see is more terrifying than what you can. For instance in one scene, the vapour rising in the air from the wolves' breaths as they hide in the trees is enough to get across a sense of real menace. However, when he actually shows the lupine stalkers, the CGI is pretty ropey and there is nothing threatening about the cartoonish wolves.
It is possible to view the film on some level as an existential exploration of death and how far we will go to survive. However, in that respect, the ending might be a bit disappointing to some and cinema goers were audibly disgruntled as the credits started rolling when I saw it.
I was expecting two hours of Liam Neeson punching wolves; in the end, it was probably deeper than that.
RSS feeds