Ryan Shoots First: The Gray Man
The Gray Man is awesome. We review a lot of action movies here at Bulletproof Action and while we love our low budget direct on demand action films when one is done with big money, big actors and top tier directors it really stands out. And man does this film carry some big names. Gosling, Evans, Russos.
One of my favorite aspects of the movie is that everyone kinda plays it like an action movie of a bygone era. The bad guys are cartoonishly bad guys in all the best ways and the heroes have bad ass one liners. Even Chris Evans has an epic mustache. Gosling is his smooth cool self but Evans has a blast essentially playing the opposite of his role in his last Russo Brothers film, little picture called Avengers: Endgame. He makes a great villain and really seems to be having fun with his portrayal of the sociopathic ex-spy turned freelance fixer Lloyd Hansen. 5 points to whoever knows the last film character named Lloyd. Ryan Gosling is such a unique actor who can really portray whatever’s needed. Brooding cold killer, suave secret agent and even loyal protector. And yes they work in a Ken Doll reference for his upcoming role as Ken in Barbie (which by God we WILL be reviewing on this site and it will break all records). Beyond those two A-list actors we have a supporting cast of Billy Bob Thornton, Ana De Armas and housewife heartthrob Regé-Jean Page.
The action is packed end to end. We open on a mission and the film never stops as it moves from set piece to set piece. Each one is unique, fun and intense as Gosling’s “Six” fights for his survival and also to protect those who have helped him along the way. There are even a few tasteful Skittles product placements and I love Skittles.
This hasn’t quite been the marketing dud on Netflix’s end as The Adam Project was, I actually saw commercials for this one! But Netflix seems to not put a ton of effort into pushing their big budget films. I suppose they trust their ability to shove it at the top of your lists to get you to watch it but for a company bleeding subscribers still feels like this could have been pushed as the blockbuster to close out the summer. It was smart to release during Comic Con and it looks like the movie had a presence there but we will see if it catches on. So with summer winding down and most of the big theatrical releases over settle down for that surprise thrill ride with super spy’s duking it out and everyone’s favorite new movie trope…FPV drone shots!
I don’t know if Netflix has any sequel plans it hasn’t been something we’ve seen with their exclusive films but this seems like a perfect Mission: Impossible type franchise they could come back to again and again with new threats and I hope we get more from this team. So get away from the sweltering melting of our very planet by settling in at home and enjoying some quality spy action. And don’t forget to Taste the Rainbow!
