Pietro's Movie Review: THE GREY

The Grey is chock full of grit, adrenaline and some of the best editing I've seen in years. Amazing cinematography and a daunting score coupled with fantastic performances by Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo make this an adventure you won't want to miss.

Studios throw the word "thriller" around quite a lot. They use it to describe almost every film that features a few, mildly heart-pumping moments. This marketing ploy has for all intents and purposes bastardized the term and made movie goers skeptical of what they are being pitched. Thankfully, director Joe Carnahan has a true thriller that memorably charges into 2012 with reckless abandon. The Grey not only helps to redeem the overly emphasized sub-genre, but sets a very high standard other films of the same ilk will struggle to match up to. But calling it a standard issue thriller wouldn't do it justice, as it's equal parts character driven drama and shock-filled horror film.

Liam Neeson's portrayal of no-nonsense vengeance seeker Bryan Mills in the 2008 film Taken is easily comparable to his turn as an outdoorsman with a dismal past in The Grey for one simple reason: we are clearly shown the motivation for his actions. While in Taken he is a father who desperately needs to get his daughter back from kidnappers, here he desperately needs to survive a situation he doesn't deserve to be in. Seeing that desperation makes you root for him to the bitter end, no matter how violent his actions become.

Neeson is Ottway, a mysterious hunter who was hired to protect Alaskan oil drillers from wild animals (wolves in particular) who attempt to breach the perimeter of the refinery. He and a group of laborers board a flight to Anchorage, but inclement weather takes the plane down in a jolting sequence that can only be defined as one of the most horrific crash scenes in modern cinema. Ottway finds himself stranded with a handful of survivors, an eclectic mix played wonderfully by Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Joe Anderson, James Badge Dale and Dallas Roberts. Not only will they have to survive the blistering cold of undomesticated Alaskan wilderness, but a pack of wolves who deem them a threat. They are alone, cut off from civilization with no help on the way. Discovering their plane went down close to a wolf den, they realize it will be a fight to the death with the pack animals who quickly turn territorial. And what a glorious, drawn out, tension-filled battle it becomes. A visceral nightmare plays out before your eyes, redefining 'survival of the fittest' in a terrifying way.

The Grey features beautiful cinematography that's surprisingly bright and vivid considering the bleak British Columbia landscape used to stand in for the Alaskan backdrop. Director Joe Carnahan's team of editors produce some of the most exhilarating action beats I've ever seen, masterfully implementing the less-is-more approach, all playing to a dynamic score by composer Marc Streitenfeld. It's a volatile, relentless journey that's filled with as much internal as external struggle. As far as the wolves go, I can't remember any film that portrays them as so intelligently violent while not pegging them as malicious villains.

There is a preconception this film revolves around 90 plus minutes of a man vs wolf boxing match, more than likely from the TV spots, trailers and clips being disseminated. This is not the case. Usually I'd complain about getting a marketing-to-release bait and switch, but what we are presented with is so much more important than an extended brawl to the death. The gruesome reality of hopeless survival situations accurately displayed here will shock you, sometimes even make you jump out of your seat. Most importantly you're forced to hope this eclectic group of gruff, unsavory characters, who are painfully deconstructed before you, will overcome a miserable plight you wouldn't wish on your enemies. Complete with a brilliantly satisfying ending, The Grey is storytelling at it's finest and a film that easily meets every expectation you could set for a thought provoking actioner.