Another year, another Liam Neeson action movie. The reinvented veteran actor's latest movie is the gritty survival pic, The Grey. Reuniting with director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team), viewers will find that this adventure film actually gives them a little something more to linger on.
Neeson stars as Ottway, a game hunter who works for an oil drilling company in Alaska. Despaired by his wife leaving him, he contemplates his life's meaning at the "end of the world". The viewer learns that many of the drillers up in Alaska are ex-convicts and social outcasts who work up there metaphorically as a punishment for their own personal demons.
On a routine trip to Anchorage, their plane crashes and leaves only a few survivors, who are then forced to endure trekking the wilderness in hopes of finding civilization again. The main selling point in the previews is that survivors are picked off one at a time by a pack of bloodthirsty, territorial wolves whom are none too pleased to have visitors. Since Neeson's character is the survival and animal expert, he must try to leading everyone to safety.
A quick search on Google shows that wolf attacks are very rare, but the filmmakers were wise enough to place the stranded human beings in the wolves' den. So there's not too much suspension of disbelief required to believe that a pack of hungry wolves would attack if you trespass on their territory.
However, the script is more than just a mindless action movie. The characters often ponder their existence in the world, and how they choose to deal with mortality. The dialogue isn't always articulated well to represent these themes but then again, these are a bunch of blue collar oil drillers in Alaska. Liam Neeson, as usual, gives a good performance. He adds gravitas and presence to anything, even in these 'standard' action roles. None of the other actors (including Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, and Joe Anderson) particularly stand out since unfortunately, the script does not develop them any more than stock types. This is Neeson's show all the way.
Adding in the striking photography of Masanobu Takayanagi, The Grey depicts a harsh, wintery setting with characters on the edge fighting for survival. It's definitely an entertaining adventure movie, just don't expect a conventional Hollywood ending.
The Grey is now playing in Rochester. You can check www.imdb.com for showtimes.
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