The Gray Man Review: Gray Man is too grey, skip it if you may

Hyderabad: The Russo brothers and Chris Evans combo had given Hollywood three high grossing films – films that defied what action/spy thriller should be. This outing, however, does not fit the bill. It is nothing but a mega-bucks confrontation of a spy-gone rogue-rehired, willing to go the distance to kill the unkillable spy. Based on […]

Hyderabad: The Russo brothers and Chris Evans combo had given Hollywood three high grossing films – films that defied what action/spy thriller should be. This outing, however, does not fit the bill. It is nothing but a mega-bucks confrontation of a spy-gone rogue-rehired, willing to go the distance to kill the unkillable spy.

Based on the novel by Mark Greaney, this is the story of Sierra Six and his friend turned foe Lloyd Hansen.

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The storyline is simple. CIA’s most skilled mercenary Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets. This makes him a target of the CIA. They rope in his former colleague, the psychopathic Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) and a wide array of assassins.

Here begins the globe tottering action sequences. Sierra Six is the new Jason Bourne. He finds a cautious disciple in Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas), a CIA agent who is also forced to go rogue. Helicopters are crashed, grenades popped and supporting characters slaughtered all around the globe hunting the fugitive duo.

The movie zooms obsessively from one exotic location to another with at least a death or two in each. In between you have Avik San (Dhanush) attempting to kill both Sierra Six and Dani. Who survives and who doesn’t is what the film is about.

The Russo brothers are not known for a muted style of filmmaking. But even by their usual pretentious standards (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame) the Netflix-produced espionage thriller is jarring on every level. Sheer size notwithstanding, the action sequences are less coherent and compelling than Extraction.

It not that the action is bad, it is too much to digest. It looks a lot like the Russo brothers and the editing department took the back seat and left the majority of screentime and space to the stunt director. This is more Mission Impossible gone wrong.

Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans try their best to make something out of this action sequence. The script and action sequences do not give them much to do. This movie marks Dhanush’s much awaited Hollywood debut. His screen presence does not justify the hype. Julia Butters holds her own even though she is quickly made a full-time hostage.

The other cast are there to either shoot, blow up stuff, or contribute to the death count. It is high time Russo brothers realize that there is more to an action film than big budgets and muscled stars. The actors can only do so much.

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