Hello readers, Home Theater Hans is back after an extended absence, but let's see if my return last's longer than a Jedi named Luke Skywalker, or Mark Hamill's career.
Liam Neeson seems to find a new audience with any character he plays and The Grey is one that will find him a bigger audience. Neeson plays a character named Ottway, who is a hunter who kills wolves that would threaten oil drillers that work in Alaska. When they are finished with their job, they board a plane while there is a blizzard going on and from seeing the trailer, you see that the plane crashes and survival is the name of the game.
The trailer makes this movie to be one that only consists of surviving in the cold with a bunch of wolves trying to make dinner out of the characters. Well to a certain extent that is true, but as the movie plays out, you get to know who these survivors are. Many movies fall into the trap of having cliche characters as if there is a rule to follow, such as horror movies with the coward, the hero and the female who survives at the end. The Grey gives these characters a breath of fresh air with some insight as to what drives them to fight for the next minute of their life and gives you more of a reason to want to see them survive till the end.
The movies setting and the character's reality really gives you something to think about. One of those thoughts is not filling out those job applications that send you on a long plane ride over a wilderness that will chew out most humans unless you read Bindi Irwin's latest survival guide. You can question some of the decisions and actions that the characters make but staying alive compared to being wolf sh*t will drive anyone to the extreme, and there is a certain scene that will stay with MacGyver fans if they are ever in a similar situation.
Is there action? Yes. Could they have done a better job of the special effects/wolves? Maybe. Did I care or hear anyone in the audience complain about the wolves? No. Do I highly recommend this movie?
4 out of 5 speakers
