The Russo Brothers' latest directorial feature, The Gray Man, has finally begun streaming on Netflix, starring Ryan Gosling as the rogue CIA operative Sierra Six, who goes up against a villainous madman in Chris Evans's Lloyd Hansen.
While the new Netflix film has gained enough traction to warrant a sequel, the film has proven to be quite divisive among fans and critics, harkening back to several other action thriller films from the last few years that had great potential, but ultimately missed the mark.
The Gray Man
Available On Netflix
Featuring a massive MCU reunion with the screenwriting duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and the Russo Brothers, who previously worked together on both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and a star-studded cast of lovable actors, The Gray Man had every reason to be the next big hit.
The Gray Man may have been a passable film, but it was ultimately yet another forgettable action-thriller that couldn't differentiate itself from the scores of other films in the genre. With a production team so notable, The Gray Man should have been a far greater entry into Netflix's vast catalog, though the franchise still has a chance to redeem itself with the recently announced sequel.
Red Notice
Available On Netflix
Red Notice united a cast of incredibly likable actors in major stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds in what was at the time the most expensive Netflix film ever made. Boasting a globetrotting adventure, Red Notice was one of the most heavily marketed Netflix originals ever, creating a hype that the film ultimately didn't live up to.
While Red Notice was undoubtedly a hit for Netflix, spawning the franchise the streamer had hoped for upon its release, critics were not particularly fond of the film, criticizing the bland and predictable story. The A-list cast was also criticized for their largely generic characters, who most resembled the far more popular personalities of characters that the respective actors had played in other films.
Bright
Available On Netflix
In 2017, Bright was set up to be the next big action-thriller fantasy franchise. With major talent in stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton and a deeper message that could have provided formative social commentary, everything seemed set for the dawn of a major hit for Netflix.
Will Smith has kickstarted plenty of franchises over the years, including Men in Black, Bad Boys, and many more. Bright, however, was one franchise that even he couldn't get off the ground. The film was panned by critics and, though a sequel was in development for years, Netflix appears to have canceled the film after Will Smith's public incident with Chris Rock at the Academy Awards earlier this year.
Jolt
Available On Amazon Prime Video
Kate Beckinsale attempted to launch her very own John Wick-esque action franchise with her 2021 film Jolt. With viewers hungry for film franchises of such a nature, Jolt could and should have been the female-led action franchise that multiple studios have been desperately seeking for years.
Despite its potential, Jolt ultimately fell flat upon its premiere, failing to gain traction with fans or critics. Any hope for a sequel or spinoff to this action thriller fizzled quite quickly as it became clear that viewers had not taken to this new potential franchise.
Kate
Available On Netflix
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, fresh off her DCEU debut in Birds of Prey the previous year, starred in 2021's Kate as the titular assassin with only one day left to live. With a cast rounded out by Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, and newcomer Miku Martineau, anticipation was high for Kate upon its Netflix release.
Though Kate was refreshingly free of heavy-handed franchise-building, establishing itself as a standalone film, the plot feels very much borrowed from other, better films. There is little that is remarkable about Kate other than Winstead steadily proving her merit as an action star.
6 Underground
Available On Netflix
Though Ryan Reynolds's latest Netflix films have been major hits, his 2019 partnership with the streaming giant, 6 Underground, never found the same traction. Directed by Michael Bay and starring a cast of personable actors led by Reynolds himself, the film was marketed as one of the biggest Netflix films of all time.
6 Underground attempted to be Michael Bay's great "return to form," but ultimately failed to stick the landing. Audiences wavered in their interest in the film after its poor critical reception, killing any chance for potential films. It would be three years later than Bay would attempt his grant "return to form" once more, perhaps finding his mark with Ambulance.
The Old Guard
Available On Netflix
On the heels of the massive boom in the superhero action genre, Netflix sunk a great amount of money and energy into the creation of the 2020 Charlize Theron vehicle, The Old Guard. With a bottomless appetite for superhero films and tremendous goodwill for a film that promised to stand out among the genre, The Old Guard was poised to be Netflix's long-sought-after signature superhero franchise.
The Old Guard managed to find some level of audience interest upon its release, even garnering a sequel, but still failed to properly expand on the incredibly saturated superhero genre in a meaningful way. While future installments in the franchise can still differentiate themselves from other superhero films, The Old Guard may have made a better video game than a movie.
Infinite
Available On Paramount+
Infinite is a 2021 action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, Sophie Cookson, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Based on the beloved novel The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz, the film came with a pre-existing fanbase, a cast with large respective followings, and tremendous opportunity for franchising, all of which it squandered.
Bungled a streaming-only release as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Infinite made very little impact on audiences upon its release, mostly getting lost by the wayside on a streaming service that hadn't quite found its footing yet. The film itself fumbled its intriguing setup, trading in the more interesting sci-fi elements for generic action sequences and unmemorable characters.
The Protege
Available On Amazon Prime Video
Equipped with a powerhouse trio of leading stars in Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Keaton, the 2021 action thriller film The Protege had the terrific opportunity to seize the end of the summer movie season and potentially launch a terrific franchise.
Though not a terrible film, The Protege feels like dozens of other forgettable action thrillers from the last decade. The characters all feel tired and familiar, with Maggie Q's role as Anna Dutton far too reminiscent of countless other characters from the actress's previous films. In the end, The Protege doesn't do nearly enough to win audiences over in a busy market.
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
Available On HBO Max
The Hitman's Bodyguard was the surprise hit of 2017, with stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek making a terrific trio worthy of turning into a lucrative franchise. Thereby, the 2021 sequel, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, had every reason to be just as big of a hit as the original was.
It became clear shortly after the release of The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard that the sequel paled in comparison to the original. While the performances from the film's main cast were certainly on par with their work in the prior film, it wasn't enough to save the sequel's weak story and lazy gags, which may have killed what could have been a very lucrative franchise.