The Grey (Liam Neeson): Grading, Discussion, Reviews (SPOILERS)

[Dream]

Great movie.

Saw it mostly for Liam Neeson. He certainly delivered in the role. The acting was great and the tone was pretty intense, but there was still plenty of humor. I liked that we learned so much about the main character without it being told to us in a conversation. I loved the ending.

The post credits scene wasn't worth waiting for 10 minutes for, should've just read about it on wiki.

 

[the G-man]

I would have liked the ending better if it had been scored to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"

 

[T'Baio]

I just saw this last night and thought it was amazing.

When I saw the trailers, and how they led up to Neeson putting bottles on his hands and making like there was going to be "wolf punching," I thought that looked utterly stupid and ridiculous.

But I was dragged to the film, and glad I was! I was pleasantly surprised, and thought the ending was absolutely amazing.

Great film!

 

[stj]

For a man vs. animal flick, I've always thought The Edge (Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin) was pretty spectacular. How does The Grey compare to that one?

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

THE GREY is better because THE EDGE had only four characters on the small plane, two of whom (the pilot and Harold Perrineau) were so clearly doomed from the get-go. While most of us assumed everyone in THE GREY except Neeson would die, there was still much less predictability and the wolves weren't the only causes of death.

 

[auntiehill]

I think The Grey is far better, as it deals with some larger issues, rather than a jealous lover trying to kill off his competition. The characters discuss God, religion, how to deal with impending death, their macho facades, the purpose of life, etc. It's quieter, more subtle in its approach, and I think, more realistic.

It's not about who is going to survive, or man vs. beast; it's about how the characters deal with death itself.

IMHO, anyway.

 

[T'Baio]

I completely agree, auntiehill! The film is so much more than "run away from wolves and survive!" I felt like it was a meditation on important issues in a man's life and the various ways you can deal with them. And by man, I mean a man, not mankind. Some of the issues raised can be pertinent to the feminine, for sure, but the film definitely focussed on what men struggle with. It's like all the characters were the psyche of masculine archetypes, and the Grey (environment and wolves) was society/the world.

 

[archeryguy1701]

^Agreed on both accounts T'Baio and auntiehill... in fact, I would go so far to say that even though they were in the movie a lot, the wolves themselves are actually a tiny, tiny part of the movie. In all honesty, if the movie lacked the major theme behind it, it probably would have failed for me. It would have just been another scary movie. The bigger story, Neeson's journey from where he was at the beginning to the end, is what really made that movie great.