Liam Neeson has had a long and interesting career. From his Oscar nominated role as Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" to his turn as Ra's Al Ghul in "Batman Begins" to his resurgence as an action hero in "Taken," Neeson has proven he can do almost anything.
His new film, "The Grey," is more along the lines of "Taken" than the previously mentioned films, but he brings the soul of a real actor to a film that previously would have gone to the likes of Sylvester Stallone or Jean Claude Van Damme.
The story: Neeson's Ottway and a band of oil drillers board a plane that crashes in the middle of a snowy Alaskan wilderness. Ottway and a handful of other passengers survive and start to look for food and shelter under EXTREME circumstances. If that weren't enough, the survivors are being picked off, one by one, by a pack of angry wolves.
If you've seen the trailer, you might think that "The Grey" is a movie about Liam Neeson punching a bunch of wolves in the face. But, dear reader, that is not the case. The wolves are simply secondary and if "Wolf Punch" is the movie you're looking for, you're bound to be disappointed.
"The Grey" is bleak, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It explores the depths of despair and the lengths that humans (and wolves for that matter) will go to survive in the worst of conditions. It also delves into fact that sometimes, not everybody WANTS to survive. They've had enough and they're ready to say goodbye.
Expect to be challenged with the material and make sure to stick around after the credits for a surprise ending.
"The Grey" is deep and it also happens to be the first great movie of 2012.
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To find tickets for "The Grey," click here.
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