"The Grey" (2012)

The Big Bad Wolf gonna blow your house in, little piggy.

I caught "The Grey" after work. Had been impressed by the trailer for it, this gritty survival action movie. I liked it, although it is very much more than simply an action movie or thriller; rather, it's more of an extended meditation on mortality, honestly. This carries all the way through it, from start to finish -- "Don't be afraid." It's not really about man vs. wolves, even though the wolves carry throughout it, and are marvelously presented. Some folks have groused about the use of CGI for the wolves, but they are very effective, and the director makes good use of them. If anything, he uses them with restraint. I wished he'd had more howling with them, although in some scenes, it's done to great effect. Really, the wolves are a metaphor for mortality, or for the ineffable savagery of nature, the inevitability of death, and the futility of man's paltry and hubristic ambitions in the face of it, while at the same time the need for honor and compassion and kindness in the face of it. Death comes quickly and horribly to the characters in the movie, and in so many different ways. It's like the Angel of Death swoops in and *voila* you're gone. And for this to plague a group of men who survived a plane crash, no less, it's even more affecting/haunting.

This is not a comforting, comfortable movie, but it was a well-crafted and -executed exploration of mortality. The plane crash scene alone is devastating and effective, unadorned and devoid of sentiment. there is merely the will to survive and endure in the face of nearly impossible odds.

I don't think it's a perfect execution (pun intended) of the premise; I would have liked more characterization of the characters in it, in other ways than them having actorly talks around the bonfire (the kinds of scenes actors probably love, the chance for monologue), and at nearly 2 hours in length, they could have made more use of moments to bring out that characterization. I imagine people seeing this movie thinking that it's going to be an action flick will be pissed off by it, but the logic of the film is woven throughout it, and, as you reflect upon it, it makes perfect sense, and is as admirably constructed as it is grave. I left the movie feeling pretty down, which stayed with me awhile, and, having been bathed in this frigid Alaskan wilderness for a couple of hours, found the well-lit noise and human hustle-bustle of the streets of Chicago to be a jarring transition. Our culture runs and hides from death, as a whole -- the message of advertising is "enjoy today, forget about tomorrow" and "be young forever!" -- and having come out of that movie, this cognitive dissonance was very apparent.

All of the actors worked credibly within their roles, and Liam Neeson did a good job, as ever. He manages that gravelly gravitas that is well within his comfort zone, but which he brings to bear with that earnest, unadorned nobility. I'm glad that Neeson has managed a kind of late-era action hero status -- you can tell that he's the action hero for the senior citizens/Baby Boomers these days by the fact that he's risen over the years as the go-to guy for these kinds of "old guy kicks ass" movies. It's like as the Boomers take one last, long slide on the banana peel they've been standing on their whole lives, headed for the grave, they cling to someone like Neeson to make it alright.

Anyway, good movie, a serious movie, and one that'll leave you thinking, if you're inclined to think at all. Which means that many people will probably be disappointed and disillusioned, but I wasn't one of them.