The Gray Man

5,5 / 10

Eight times more expensive than „Everything Everywhere All at Once“, roughly 80 percent from the budget of the first three Jason Bourne films combined (!) and the result is a paint-by-numbers espionage thriller which is solid and thoroughly entertaining, but sadly nothing more and expectedly nothing less. From the start, the Russo brothers make sure to present a barrage of bombastic action sequences to the viewers which also discloses their lazily assembled sample collection: Impressive sets around the world à la James Bond, wild pursuits, chaotic cinematography and nearly infinite explosions as seen in the latest Bayhem Ambulance, an abuse of power for private purposes versus the defiant Sierra program inside the CIA resembling the Bourne franchise and a protagonist’s tough past reminiscent of The Accountant. “Everything is a remix” appears to be the Russo’s modus operandi, but the quality of the action cannot be denied. The story itself though feels as if it was spat out of an espionage screenplay generator and could have been more engaging with the addition of character exposition and backstories for the supporting cast to give them an emotional foundation, especially the very solid Dhanush and Ana de Armas playing the agent and protagonist’s sidekick Dani Miranda (fortunately she is better utilized here than in No Time To Die).

Ryan Gosling is a weirdly great fit for the prosecuted, resilient agent on demand called Six with his stoic swag who manages to find escaping routes in absurd situations and hides memories about his very difficult childhood. Chris Evans as the uncompromising antagonist Lloyd Hansen, who uses torturing methods to fulfil his objectives, is fine, but his presence and strength are unnecessarily suppressed by computers and surveillance software. There are the usual stakes surrounding the term ‘family’ which seems to be Hollywood’s most precious thing in the world at the moment and completes the simply-structured story arc. The Gray Man is a global assassination tournament to hunt down Ryan Gosling’s Six, but also plays out like a predictable last man standing match which is way too expensive for the content that is shown on the screen. The lack of detailed character arcs is either a clever trick by the writers to pave the way for a sequel or a sign that they couldn’t extract more substance from the actors, various locations and mechanisms inside the agency – my guess is that it’s the latter. The visuals are nonetheless impressive and the fights don’t waste time, but in the end, it’s not more than an international fast food buffet with just the right amount to digest everything, although most of the ingredients will be forgotten in the future.