ScreenFix Review: The Grey

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of the winter formula that has started off by taking Liam Neeson and putting him in a movie (Taken, Unknown) in which he plays a stoic badass.  It’s not that Liam Neeson doesn’t play tough guy well- he totally does- it’s just that I feel like he is such a powerful actor that his talents could be better put to work in more dynamic roles.  That said, I loved “The Grey.”  The plot could not be simpler.   Neeson plays Ottway, the man tasked with protecting the workers at an Alaskan drilling station.  On his trip home, the plane crashes in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and Neeson must lead his fellow survivors to safety.  This film actually fits into a genre that I haven’t seen done well in a while; namely the monster movies from the 90s.  In these movies the characters are slowly picked off one by one until the dramatic conclusion when the last one or two characters figure out the necessary information to defeat whatever is killing them.

The big difference in this movie is that rather then some shadow in the forests hunting our survivors, we have a pack of poorly CGI-ed wolves (one of my few complaints).  Luckily Neeson’s Ottway is very familiar with the wolves of the area and serves as a pocket encyclopedia to the rest of the survivors, telling them what the wolves are doing and thinking.  This comes off as less “I know wolves” and a lot more “wolf-whisperer,” but it doesn’t detract from the story much and it allows many parallels to be drawn between the pack of wolves hunting the survivors and the survivors themselves.  The wolves are obviously stronger, faster, and better suited for the terrain then seven regular Joes, but the wolves only ever seem to attack the group when they are doing something wrong, such as fighting amongst themselves or letting one of their own fall behind the group.  It’s almost as if the wolves are trying to teach them a lesson about teamwork.

The entire film would be very appropriate in your high school English class.  There are dozens of examples of themes and symbols and all those other vocab words that your British Literature teacher drilled into you.  One of my favorite scenes comes when the survivors reach the safety of the tree line (I don’t know what made the tree line safer but Liam Neeson said it was so it must be so) and make a fire to ward off the wolves.  They still can hear the wolves in the distance and suddenly hear the wolves skirmish amongst themselves.  Ottway explains that a member of the pack had challenged the alpha for dominance and lost.  Not a full minute later, one of the other survivors carries out the obligatory “who put Liam Neeson in charge” scene and Neeson has to beat his ass to the ground in order to prove why he is in charge.  It’s subtly done but, for people who want to look for it, this can be a rather deep story and, if that is not your cup of tea, it is full of fighting and action and life and death situations.  The film has its flaws, but overall it was a surprisingly original experience after a year filled with sequels and reboots.

What did you think of The Grey? Let us know in the comments.