When a plane full of rugged, blue-collar workers goes down hard in the middle of nowhere in snow-drenched Alaska, Liam Neeson willfully attempts to guide the lucky souls - who literally walked away from the crash - to survival against the frigid elements and a pack of territorial wolves.
That’s it folks. The Grey is pretty much Jaws in the snow for the majority of the 117 minutes. The methodical tale moves slightly faster than the group of seven survivors mushing through the blizzard terrain. Try to picture a survival-horror flick that transcends into a journeyman’s piece such as 2009’s The Road. Except, the wolves usher in a killer antagonist and they come out of nowhere. They even have a haunting persona which can get one to jump in their seat despite knowing that something tragic is on its way based on the scene and camera angle. And although the camera is a bit all over the place during the multiple attacks (mega-zoom), the tone of what is going on is captured and portrayed out fairly well.
Now when the wolves are not featured in the scene, the script makes a moderate attempt to get one caring about the characters. You’ll get a flavoring for each person but it’s Neeson who gets the most attention - with flashback sequences of his past life - before he became a loner with an unapproachable stoic persona. Yet like the survivors in the story, you do believe in him and watch with anticipation as he steers this group through treacherous wilderness. The other main set piece is the mass destruction of the decimated plane in the wide-open snowy plateau that has corpses lying all around it. And this sucker is occasionally graphic with not only the aftermath, but with the realistic action of the wolves’ mauling, too. By the way, the set designs, costuming, and atmosphere, could indeed have you feeling like “icicles hanging from your private parts,” as one character states early on.
Speaking of dialogue, some of it just isn’t audible; especially early on. Granted this is done on purpose to depict the rigorous environment the survivors have to deal with, but the discussions fail to engage until later on. Actually, everything prior to the first initial wolf encounter is essentially worthless. Fortunately, the beasts - and they are beasts - creep in early.
The one element that yours truly is tired of seeing is the obvious group jackass who just goes against everything. It’s too cliché, and unless you’re going to do something innovative with that persona, just cut it out. Other than that, everything on display here is in proper form aside from the gnarly camera shots that were referenced earlier. Speaking of the camera though, the lingering technique used to showcase not only the environment, but what the mind frame is of the dwindling group, as they press on through multiple obstacles just to survive another day, is, dare I say, moving. This could have easily been a show-n-go piece but instead it errs on the side of being reflective or ponderous. But don’t get me wrong, this gritty chess match between the wolves and Neeson is the catalyst here.
Overall, The Grey may take place in one arena yet has the ability to bring two primal storytelling themes together. And somehow, co-writer/director Joe Carnahan is able to find a way for them to play nice together despite a few lulls in the screenplay.
And be sure to hang around until the end of the credits.
The Grey is rated R and opens in the Tampa Bay market on Friday.
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