The Grey

Some movies are just better to see them in theatres. There's something about the darkness, the huge screen, the massive subwoofers. It just makes the experience so much different than seeing a movie at home or on Netflix. The Grey is one of those movies. I saw it in theatres when it first came out and really enjoyed it. As someone who doesn't normally enjoy thriller or horror movies, the fact that I liked The Grey was an impressive feat in my mind. I guess it goes to show that Liam Neeson can make anything better.

The Grey follows the story of a man hired to protect pipeline workers in the north. He is a sharpshooter who takes down wolves that try to attack the workers. It is quickly established that the man is a seriously tortured soul, with the story almost ending in the first few minutes.

After surviving a terrible accident, a small group of workers are left to find their way back to civilization and safety. Unfortunately for them, injuries, hunger, freezing weather, are only the first of their problems. A predatory threat stalks them, and the battle between species begins.

Things done well:

  -Uses Liam Neeson quieter voice to draw you in, then scare you back with loud attacks

 -*SPOILER* Once a few of the less likeable characters get killed off, the handful that remain actually get some character development. There are some real moments shared amongst the group, where they get to act like actual people instead of terrified survivors. They share pieces of their past with each other, and you grow much more attached to the smaller group. When one of the characters succumbs to the cold instead of an attack, you can feel the emotion the remaining men experience.

Things not so great

  -Almost all of the characters are total assholes until the second half of the movie

  -There is incredibly bad language (it's a bunch of men working a crap job in the cold, what did you expect?)

  -It can get a little graphic at times, with some gruesome deaths, some emotionally difficult deaths, and if you can't handle seeing animals (even CG ones) hurt then you should be warned now.

The movie was amazing in theatres when it first came out. The massive sound system and darkness of the theatre really added to the atmosphere of the movie. Seeing it again on Netflix wasn't quite the same experience. It might have been the different setting I saw it under, or the fact that I wasn't surprised by the jump-scare attacks by the wolves

All in all, the second half of the movie was immensely more interesting and engaging than the first half. I will warn the faint of heart though. The way that some of these characters die is heartbreaking. I don't want to give anything away, but more than a few die without being attacked by wolves and those ones are honestly the most emotional deaths.

Visual: 3 out of 5

The wolves are a little fake looking, and the rest of the movie is about guys in the frozen middle of nowhere. Some of the scenic shots are beautifully done, but a lot of the movie takes place during a snowstorm. Not a lot to see there.

Story: 3 out of 5

It's hard to get far enough into the movie where you connect with the characters without getting a little bored. The jump scares are front loaded into the movie, so you get a weird combination of a thriller at the beginning and sort of a heartbreaking adventure at the end.

Overall: 3 out of 5

While the first viewing was certainly the best, with the environment of the theatre adding to the pure surprise of the wolf attacks, the second viewing at home was still not a bad time. The second half of the movie makes up for the lack of depth at the beginning, in my opinion.

Toodles!