REVIEW: ‘The Grey’
Despite the fact that the “man versus wild” concept has been done over and over, “The Grey” successfully keeps audience’s attention by offering afrightening take on the familiar premise. Liam Neeson stars as Ottway, a man with a vague and sad past that works alongside dozens of roughneck oilmen at a remote refinery in Alaska.
From the first frame of film and word of dialogue, it’s clear that Ottway is a mysterious figure. He seems out of place among the ex-cons and blue-collar roughnecks, but his overwhelming knowledge of nature makes him a key member of the community and workforce.
The film doesn’t spend much time at the oil pipeline, as shortly into the story, a small plane carrying Ottway and much of the pipeline crew goes down, crashing in the harsh conditions of rural Alaska. With only seven survivors and very limited supplies, Ottway and the remaining men leave the crash site behind and head towards the distant forest in hopes of finding food, shelter, and defense from hungry wolves.
Wolves have become a laughable breed in cinema over the past few years due to 2010’s awful werewolf period film “The Wolfman” and of course because of Taylor Lautner’s poorly animated transformations in the “Twilight” series. The wolves in “The Grey”, however, are truly frightening creatures. Well-coordinated and blood-thirsty, they stalk Ottway and the others every night in the frigid darkness.
Because of their incredibly limited resources (the majority of their supplies was destroyed in the crash), the men are forced to get creative in how they defend and shelter themselves each day. Ottway – the team’s default leader because of his wilderness expertise – comes up with the majority of the group’s ideas, including some that are quite effective despite being rather primitive.
I was surprised how intense this film is. The plane crash sequence early on is one of the most real crash scenes I’ve seen in film, even outing “Cast Away” and the brutality and goriness of the wolf attacks quickly put any misconceptions about the formidability of the film’s foes to rest. “The Grey” could honestly be categorized as a horror film as it’s very suspenseful
While all seven central actors do a good job, the film is without a doubt carried by Neeson’s intense performance. This film completely rests on Neeson’s performance and he does a fantastic job with the character whose backstory becomes much clearer as the film progresses.
“The Grey” is a far better film that what is typically released in the wasteland of January. It’s well-directed, well-acted, and an all-around top-notch thriller that’s currently my favorite film of 2012.
