In The Grey

 

This review may contain spoilers!

In The Grey, a small island nation is invaded by a high-tier client lawyer and her team of mercenaries to recoup the billion-dollar debt owed by the man who owns it.

This film functions like an action-film machine; it moves on a tight schedule and has a relentless rhythm. Everything about the operation we watch unfold is entirely tactical; emotion doesn't ever really bleed into it, it's just unrelenting. This is a film that wants to dismantle an antagonist; the components of storytelling are just a means to get there. It's extremely impressive watching the matter-of-fact way this film dissects the dissolution of a despot. There's a sort of thrill to the cocky soldiers running drills, backroom deals being postured and the helter-skelter run to extraction. I loved nothing more than when Rachel stopped for a beer, and we got to see the highly efficient way her team responds to a militant show of force from the enemy combatants.

Henry Cavill, who played Sid, is pretty entertaining as this lumbering manipulator; Cavill as the disruptor mercenary with an easy sense of charisma is a neat bit of casting. Eiza González, who played Rachel, is one of the most captivating performances in this feature; González is just as much of a combatant as the others, she is just sparring with dialogue. Fisher Stevens, who played William Horowitz, is quite a fun turn as the adversary lawyer who is watching his client's world fall apart; Stevens presenting an character who is struggling with a loss of control is often the best part of the antagonist storyline.

However, the best performance came from Jake Gyllenhaal, who played Bronco. I never watched The Covenant, but I must say there's a very natural pairing with Gyllenhaal and a Guy Ritchie script. This is a mercenary figure who feels quietly imposing, like he could snap into a dangerous display of force at any moment. I greatly enjoyed how aloof Bronco was as a character; that quick-talking wit you expect from a Ritchie film is entirely carried by Gyllenhaal here. Comfortably, the funniest role, while also being the most dynamic mercenary. I enjoyed how calculating this character was; his dry sarcasm often hides a figure who is deceptively cunning. If that's not enough, any time Gyllenhaal and Cavill get to riff off one another is a treat.

Guy Ritchie's recent film run hasn't been the most impressive; often, that feels like he's not finding anything fresh in the same tried and true elements. Yes, the characters make dry-humoured jokes, there's a high-stakes heist, and the boys with bravado live up to their cockiness. But somewhere within all of that, we've lost the actual sense of character. I watched this film, and I know I'm supposed to be rooting for Sid, Bronco and Rachel. But it's honestly pretty hard to care. These are characters who serve the action and are stoic individuals rolling out a very tactical plan. You never really get to see their sense of emotion, nor how they connect to one another genuinely. This film is often very detached, and even the main plot is just watching our heroes still money from one rich guy from another bunch of rich guys. There's also a significant exposition problem in In The Grey that aggravated me to no end. If a gun isn't firing, this is a film that just will not shut up. Every character has a voice-over, monologue or phone call in which they are dissecting and explaining elements of the plan or what they are doing. This turned what could have been an intriguing or tense story into a top-heavy info dump.

I'm used to a Guy Ritchie feature being quite a stylistic trip to the cinema, but this is quite visually lacking. I found the camerawork here staggeringly obvious; there's quite a structured approach to how action and confrontation are captured that I didn't enjoy. The editing moves at a steady pace that never really switches up on itself enough to draw in the viewer. The score for this film is a significant disappointment, given that the film struggles to create a sense of mood; the music in the feature rarely makes you feel the danger of those high-stakes scenes.

Carlos Bardem, who played Manny Salazar, is one of the absolute worst onscreen antagonists I've watched all year; Bardem's turn as a billionaire crime lord was entirely unbelievable. Rosamund Pike, who played Bobby Sheen, is finding some horrible roles lately; Pike as this sweat-soaked financial executive is a completely miscast character. Kristofer Hivju, who played Axel Olsson, could have had an interesting role; sadly, Hivju is reduced to a bland henchman figure. Darrell D'Silva, who played Braxton, is a gruff figure who doesn't quite fit his role; D'Silva is a character who opens this feature but doesn't leave much of an impression. 

Guy Ritchie tries to flex his muscles here, but he winds up showing us all the tired, old tricks. I would give In The Grey a 4.5/10.