After a brief stint in movie theatres, The Gray Man has just been released on Netflix, and the streaming movie's reviews are pretty mixed. The all-star movie has been criticized endlessly for the poor editing, badly directed action sequences, and flat narrative. But it has also been praised for Evans' against-type performance and its ensemble cast that includes Ana de Armas, Ryan Gosling, and Jessica Henwick.
However, some Redditors have unsurprisingly vehemently defended the movie, singing its praises and even complimenting the editing. Between comparing it to one of the best sci-fi movies of the 2010s, being amazed by the action sequences, and loving the ending, the film is a big win for some Netflix subscribers.
The Editing Is Awesome
One of the movie's biggest criticisms is the choppy editing, as there are shots that last for just frames of a second. It's hard to tell what's going on in most of the action scenes, but it wasn't a problem for Hoppi. The Reddit user notes, "Found the camera work and edits super awesome. And the sound editing, like the muted world sound at the beginning."
Some great action sequences are well put together, particularly the whole Prague shootout, but outside of that, the shakycam and quick cuts are so distracting and make the scenes almost incomprehensible. And though the Redditor praises the film's camera work, so much of the movie is made up of unnecessary drone shots, which has also been heavily criticized.
The Plane Scene Is Cool
The Gray Man is filled to the brim with action scenes, and one of the biggest takes place in and around a plane midflight. This Reddit user is a big fan of the movie and a defender of the sequence, noting, "I thought the plane was cool and had a fun time watching the movie."
However, for a movie with a budget of over $200 million, the sequence looks completely inexpensive and pretty amateur. When all of the cargo and henchmen go flying out of the plane, an action scene takes place in the sky, and it has been criticized for its poor CGI and is impossible to tell what's going on. There's a very specific trend in movies in 2022, as Uncharted featured a strikingly similar airplane scene too, and that wasn't much better.
Chris Evans' Acting Is Bad
One of the few things about the movie that has been unanimously praised by both critics and general Netflix subscribers is Chris Evans' performance as the psychotic Lloyd Hansen. The actor knows exactly what kind of movie he's and he hams it up to the point where it's delightfully over-the-top. But Hoppingmad99 is in the minority, thinking his depiction of the character is terrible and that he doesn't have any range.
The Redditor argues, "Turns out Chris Evans doesn't know how to act. He can just do Captain America..." However, while Evans might be best known for playing Steve Rogers in the MCU, he has a long history of playing villains, and he has a great time doing it. He played the antagonist in everything from Not Another Teen Movie to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Knives Out is his best movie.
The One-Liners Are Great
The movie is chock full of one-liners, but only about one-third of them land. Even then, the most fastidious viewers wouldn't be impressed by any one of them. And while Evans delivers his lines in a hilariously eccentric manner, every character has one-liners up their sleeves ready to use at a moment's notice. Even the stoic CIA operatives are full of them, and it comes off as completely out of character.
But RubyMac91 is a big fan of them, claiming, "I think the quips and wisecracks, particularly the Ken Doll Easter egg, lightened it up a bit and stopped it getting too bogged down in its own seriousness." The Redditor is referring to the fact that Gosling has been cast as Ken in the upcoming Barbie. In fairness, it's one of the few one-liners that will stand the test of time, especially given the fact that The Gray Man came before the upcoming toy-based movie.
The Opening Scene Is Incredible
Thedailynerd thinks that the scene was great, noting, "That opening scene with the fireworks looked amazing." The sequence sees Six in Bangkok and is assigned to kill a target in an amazing-looking hotel, and there are endless fireworks to hide the sound of gunfire.
However, the fireworks look a lot like an After Effects plug-in more than anything, as it seems like they're simply pasted over the top of a shot of the Bangkok skyline. And then, when the fight between Six and Four breaks out, all the smoke and fireworks look digitally added in to mask the editing and choreography of the fight sequence.
It's Reminiscent Of Blade Runner 2049
Ryan Gosling has shared a great working relationship with Emma Stone in the past, as they starred together in Crazy Stupid Love, Gangster Squad, and La La Land, but the actor has a new on-screen partner. Binky779 compares the film positively to the acclaimed sci-fi sequel, noting, "Movie butterflies in that first club scene with Armas and Gosling and the banter. Takes me right back to Blade Runner 2049."
The newly released action movie might remind the user of the beloved 2017 sci-fi film because it sees Gosling and Ana de Armas share the screen, but that's the only way in which the two films can be compared. When compared to Blade Runner 2049, The Gray Man leaves a lot to be desired in both storytelling and visuals.
Six And Lloyd Had A Great Rivalry
The Gray Man was hyped up to be an epic cat-and-mouse chase thriller like Heat, which saw Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, two of the greatest actor of all time, face off against each other. With Gosling and Evans in the lead roles, it could have made for an instantly iconic rivalry, but that wasn't the case.
However, Thedailynerd thinks it worked out perfectly, arguing, "The rivalry they had was awesome. And from a technical aspect I thought the cinematography was fantastic." It might have worked if they spent more time around each other, but Lloyd and Six only meet twice, and each time they simply throw a couple of one-liners at each other about bad haircuts and mustaches.
Jessica Henwick Needs To Fire Her Agent
A few Redditors have noted that Jessica Henwick, who plays CIA agent Suzanne Brewer, is underused in the film, as she mostly watches the events as they unfold. But given that the film is an adaptation of the first of six novels in a series, and Suzanne isn't introduced until the fifth book, she's given more to work with than if the movie was faithful to the book. And her character is going to have a much larger role in the follow-up films if they get greenlit.
Playstation27 is more critical of not just this role but of many of her recent movie choices, commenting, "Man Jessica Henwick needs to fire her agent.... what are these roles?" While the movies themselves haven't been great, Henwick has gotten roles in the biggest franchises ever, including Star Wars, The Matrix, and now the most expensive Netflix movie ever made.
Komodo_dragonzord is one of the few who loves the Netflix movie's final act, especially nothing their cap to the final bout between Lloyd and Six. The Redditor comments, "Shoutout to that knife flip in the fountain fight" The final fight between them might be reminiscent of the final fight in Lethal Weapon, as both movies see the hero and villain put aside their weapons and have a fist fight, but it isn't quite as memorable.
The final fact leaves a lot of loose ends too, but that might be because Netflix is planning to build a whole franchise around the movie. A prequel has been in development since before The Gray Man was even available to stream, and it's being written by the Deadpool screenwriters.
Denny Is A Cartoon Villain
Denny is another CIA operative, but unlike Suzanne, Denny calls the shots. Denny isn't particularly different from any of the other characters in the way that he talks, whether it's the nonstop one-liners or the way he delivers over-the-top CIA jargon. But MarkShawnson is more critical of the character than anyone else. The Redditor argues, "Denny seems like a cartoon villain."
While that might not be a completely inaccurate description of the character, it's a little strange to call out Denny for being too cartoonish when the movie is full of cartoon-like characters Lloyd is as comic of a psychopath as they come and Dani can sprint whilst carrying several RPGs without once getting out of breath.