A little about me:
I watch my movies, standing, pacing in my living room and flipping bottles; while trying to evade attacks from my cat.
I'm not sure if it's the noise or my energy while I watch action movies, but my cat thinks I'm down for a cat fight, which I am not.
Watching Gray Man was fun, one because it's a really good action movie, and secondly, at one point during a car chase, my cat attacked me from behind, clawed my butt cheeks and dragged down my pj's. We laughed. Well, I giggled, and he laughed at me.
The Gray Man (2022) — 8/10
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Dhanush
Synopsis IMDB: When the CIA's most skilled operative-whose true identity is known to none-accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt by international assassins.
First Impressions
If you get a 007 vibe from Ryan Gosling, you're not crazy; it's there. I'm not sure if a James Bond role is in Ryan Gosling's future, but he is called Sierra Six (or Six) in the movie, and they do make a 007 reference.
Having said that, the movie itself is pretty good as far as action sequences are involved. The storyline is a mix of mission impossible (agent allegedly gone rogue) and James Bond with the suits and a smooth demeanour.
Villian
As much as you want to hate their "psycho killer," Chris Evans, he isn't as hateable (being Capital America and all) as the other corporate guy (Regé-Jean Page) dipped in patriarchal soup.
Relationships
There's a good mix of humour and action. The relationship between Sierra Six and a little girl (Julia Butters) has more weightage based on the storyline than Dani (Ana de Armas), the "love interest," which felt refreshing.
The banter between Six and Dani was quite entertaining. They didn't mash perfectly well right away, which gave their relationship a little more authenticity, unlike her and Daniel Craig in James Bond: No Time to Die (2021), where they were ball-room dance-kicking ass in sync.
Assassins
My favourite among the assassins sent to kill Six is a Tamil actor (Dhanush), who totally stole the thunder. It was helpful that his character was very good at hand-to-hand combat in the movie and drove an Audi.
Strong Female Roles
Suppose you're looking for strong female roles. In that case, you have Dani, who kicks ass, literally, and Suzzane (Jessica Henwick), who's feeling helpless throughout the movie, and eventually takes control of the situation. Still, it's not as satisfying as it could have been.
Conclusion
I'm giving The Gray Man a solid 8/10 based on the good action-packed story with humour and a little mystery. If you like action, this is your jam.
