Other than Extraction, I can’t think of another English-language action movie from Netflix that I actually enjoyed, let alone that I felt deserved a sequel. Writer/director Joe Russo, half of a directing duo with his brother Anthony, wrote that movie, which is why I was partially optimistic when I saw he was co-writing the focus of this review, The Gray Man. Then I saw that Ryan Gosling was going to star alongside Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, and that its budget would be one of Netflix’s largest at $200 million. Again, I felt optimistic, but then I remembered that this is Netflix we’re talking about, and my feelings quickly became a lot more guarded. Now, finally, I’ve watched it and had time to think. After some contemplation, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s… okay, but definitely not worth the $200M dumped into it.

The Gray Man opens with our hero, codenamed Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), on mission in Thailand with fellow CIA operative Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas). Their mission is to eliminate a man who’s carrying the “asset”, which we soon find out is a memory card that contains some compromising intel about some CIA shot-callers. After getting his hands on the asset, Six chooses not to turn it in, forcing CIA chief Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page) to let loose his psychotic henchman, Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans). Hoping to draw Six out, Lloyd chooses to target his mentor, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), and his niece (Julia Butters), with whom Six has grown close. With Dani’s help, Six fights off hordes of Lloyd’s contractors in an attempt to rescue the two people closest to him, leading to a violent final confrontation.

Without a doubt, The Gray Man starts off strong, with a colorful and riveting sequence in a Thai club that ends with a brutal hand-to-hand fight amongst detonating fireworks tubes. In this action scene (and all others), Gosling acquits himself well, demonstrating his characters singular ability to swiftly dispatch his opponents. This sequence also effectively establishes Six’s moral code, as he clearly expresses his desire to limit civilian casualties and collateral damage. In addition, de Armas gets to demonstrate her fighting abilities once again, having previously impressed in No Time to Die. Her character, Dani, is immediately shown to be a total badass and a worthy female counterpart to Six. All in all, the first twenty minutes or so of this movie are excellent.

Sadly, the longer The Gray Man goes on, the easier it becomes to identify its flaws and deficiencies. Take the villains, for example. Within a few scenes, it’s obvious that Denny Carmichael is nothing but a one-note, antagonistic administrator, wasting Regé-Jean Page on a role that’s devoid of nuance and physicality. It’s pretty much the same for Denny’s number two, Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), but at least she gets to be in the field and annoyingly yell at a well-known psycho, for being a psycho. I’m of course talking about Lloyd, who’s undeniably an amusing bad guy, but his only prominent trait is that he likes hurting people and joking around while doing so. Chris Evans is a fine actor, and I liked him in this one, but he was almost over-cast here. His character has no depth; he’s evil for the sake of being evil. Considering that superhero villains are similarly thinly written, you’d think the guy who just shed Captain America would want to play someone more substantial.

Thankfully, the good guys are a bit better-drawn, but only a bit. Thornton is sound as retired CIA officer Donald Fitzroy, exhibiting the necessary traits to make him believable as someone Six views as a father. It’s similar for de Armas, who imbues Dani with characteristics that make her plausible as someone Six would trust as an ally. They’re solid characters reinforced with competent performances, but they’re also fairly one-dimensional. Then there’s Six, who stands head and shoulders above everyone else. I struggled to find fault with how he was characterized. His backstory was simple but plausible, and I found it more affecting than I thought I would. His relationship with Fitzroy’s niece, Claire, was also pleasant, if not underwritten. And it didn’t hurt that Gosling brought his innate screen presence to the party. Other than him, I’ve only seen a handful of actors who can add more charisma and integrity to a film by simply being in it.

Another thing I noticed as The Gray Man continued is that its action is mind-numbing. I know, as an action buff, I shouldn’t complain when a movie is too action-packed, but I kind of have to here. Early on, there’s a set-piece on a plane that’s quite difficult to follow, featuring some of the worst CGI/VFX that I’ve ever seen in a film with a nine-figure budget.* Later on, when Six and Dani get to Europe, the movie devolves into shootout after car chase after shootout. Don’t get me wrong, some of these scenes are really good. The massive set-piece in the second act got my blood pumping, with belt-fed machine guns and RPGs tearing Prague apart. Still, one of these sequences should’ve been cut in favor of character-building and/or story development. I mean, when two different characters blow themselves up in almost the exact same way, you’re clearly running out of ideas. Trim it down.

At this point, I only have a few more critiques. First, The Gray Man tries too hard to be funny when it shouldn’t, which isn’t surprising given the Russo brothers’ history doing Marvel movies. It irritated me that some characters quipped when something dead-serious just happened. Second, Dhanush deserved better. His “Lone Wolf” character is awesome, and his fight scenes are decent, but the last scene he’s in is… perplexing. Third, what’s with all the drone shots? I get it; they’re cool, but not so much if it becomes distracting. Lastly, the ending is incredibly bland. I understand that the filmmakers have sequels to set up, but come on, a better conclusion has to exist.

Okay, I feel I should clarify: I don’t hate The Gray Man. Sure, I have numerous criticisms about its writing, special effects, and overall composition. I mean, I’ve seen movies made for a lot less that look a lot better and seem a lot more thoughtful, especially from an action standpoint. So no, it’s not a great action movie; hell, it’s not necessarily a good one. But it is entertaining, and I did find myself rooting for Six and Dani. Gosling and de Armas are top-notch, as usual, and there’s definitely a future for their characters. That said, I wouldn’t expect them to ever surpass, or even come close to, Bond or Bourne. And to the Russo’s, if you’re reading this, reign in the VFX and keep it in-camera, even if that means more drone shots. I’d make that exchange gladly.**

If I had to score it, I’d give The Gray Man a 5/10.

Notes:

* Seriously, this set-piece sucked. I much preferred similar sequences in recent movies like Uncharted and Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, even though those films were worse on the whole. And the parachute part… what was that? Point Break came out in 1991 and made it look better. This overreliance on CGI and VFX is really getting dumb.

** I didn’t want to harp on this in my review, but why is The Gray Man PG-13? The violence in this movie was practically begging to be Rated R, especially with a sadistic villain like Lloyd doing his thing throughout. Or at least, he could’ve done his thing had the MPAA rating not impeded his ability to do so. After all, this movie is on Netflix (after its teensy theatrical release), where ratings don’t mean jack! Sigh.

*** We chatted about The Gray Man in our first ever podcast episode, so check that out for additional critiques and whatnot.