The first feedback for The Gray Man, the Netflix action flick of the summer, have arrived. Did the Russo brothers convince?
While Netflix has announced a drastic change in strategy for its films, we now know that we can expect on the platform a lot less The Irishman and more than Red Notice. For better or for worse (especially the worst, we’re not going to lie to each other), the streaming platform has chosen the path of a certain type of production to increase its number of subscribers. On the program: action films with popular stars and pure entertainment. Next on the list is coming this summer and it’s The Gray Man, directed by the Russo Brothers.
After the last two Avengers and a stint at Apple TV+ with the strange Cherry, the Russo Brothers have already hinted at a new extended universe for Netflix. But in the meantime, it is the former Captain America, Chris Evans, who arrives at the top of the poster for their new film, accompanied by the charismatics Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. This cast therefore gave hope of a film with a certain panache. The first opinions on The Gray Man just dropped to guide us a bit. Newspaper.
Anxious about the first reviews
THE GRAY MAN is just 2 hours of Tom Clancy rejects shouting brainless shit like “make him dead” between bland action scenes in beautiful locations, all of which leads to the most hilariously stupid bad guy backstory reveal i’ve ever seen. almost made me nostalgic for Red Notice.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man is just 2 hours of a Tom Clancy sub where we yell stupid things like “bring me his head” between two tasteless action scenes in beautiful settings, all leading to the most ridiculous revelation on the big bad that I could see. I’m almost nostalgic for Red Notice.“ David Ehrlich – IndieWire
.@Russo_Brother’ #TheGrayMan has unrelenting, well-constructed action sequences. Battle of wits, bullets & brawn. Ryan Gosling & @ChrisEvans share excellent repartee (and sleazebag facial hair!). Ana de Armas is badass & beauty. Dhanush’s scenes are ruthless & sharp. pic.twitter.com/aYNmxGpLkg
—Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) July 11, 2022
“The Russo Brothers’ The Gray Man has relentless action sequences, all well constructed. We are between verbal jousts, shootings and brute force. Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans share a great repartee (and the same ratty mustache!). Ana de Armas is beautiful and badass. Dhanush’s scenes are ruthless and violent.“ Courtney Howard- variety
It’s not the mustache that makes the man, but still
THE GRAY MAN is a tactically aggressive, assassin action film by the Russo Brothers. Ryan Gosling brings his usual stoic toughness against Chris Evans’ wicked charm. Not as impressive as the Mission: Impossible or John Wick films but still a hefty piece of popcorn entertainment. pic.twitter.com/ggXuErNUYs
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man is an intelligently naughty action assassin film from the Russo Brothers. Ryan Gosling brings back his usual calm strength in the face of the flawed charm of Chris Evans. It still isn’t as impressive as a Mission: Impossible or a John Wick, but it’s still good popcorn entertainment.“ Matt Neglia – Next Best Picture
“The Gray Man” is 2022’s perfect summer action flick.
Adrenaline-fueled & hugely entertaining!
Ryan Gosling was badass. I loved every minute of Chris Evans’ delicious ruthlessness.#TheGrayMan #TheGrayManMovie #ChrisEvans #RyanGosling #AnaDeArmas #Netflix #FilmTwitter @netflix pic.twitter.com/hJD64w2kN0—Rama’s Screen???? SDCC ’22 (@RamasScreen) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man is the perfect little summer action flick for 2022. The film is adrenaline fueled and pure entertainment. Ryan Gosling is super badass there. I loved every minute of Chris Evans and his particularly tasty ruthlessness.“ Rama’s Screen
If nothing else, Ryan Gosling is badass
Netflix’ #TheGrayMan is a solid action-thriller (the streamer’s best so far), with great performances by Gosling, Evans, and de Armas. The fight choreography and stunt work are excellent, to put it mildly. Overall a winner.
—Jeff Ewing (@ReelJeffEwing) July 11, 2022
“This Netflix’s The Gray Man is a solid action thriller (the best on the platform), with a very good performance from Gosling, Evans, and de Armas. The fight choreography and stunt work are excellent, to say the least. All in all a success.“ Jeff Ewing- /Film
Undersigned #TheGrayMan social embargo is up. I had the chance to watch it last month, I loved Dhanush in this film. He gets the best fight scene in the movie. There’s one really smart change from the book w/ Evans and Gosling that I was really happy to see on screen.
—Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man embargo is lifted. I had the chance to see him last month, I loved Dhanush. It has the best fight scenes in the movie. […] In general, I found the film okay. I enjoyed without adoring. There are a lot of big action scenes, but having listened to the audio version of the book in advance, some changes (early on) caught me off guard. It is also a rather short film (2 hours). Compared to other Netflix movies of the same genre, I had more fun watching Red Notice.” Kirsten Acuna- Insider
What are we watching tonight? The Gray Man or Red Notice?
The Gray Man is two hours of James Bond meets Fast and Furious. Super exciting action, massive scale & set pieces, solid, self aware performances, consistent laughs, just a whole lot of fun. Gosling and Evans rule, supporting cast great, it’s a little obvious but never boring. pic.twitter.com/hSoTwgCMfA
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man is two hours of James Bond meets Fast and Furious. Exhilarating action on a grand scale, strong (self-aware) acting performances, lots of laughs: just loads of fun .Gosling and Evans are great, the supporting actors very good too, it’s a bit sloppy, but never boring.” Germain Lussier – Gizmodo
#TheGrayMan is okay on a Netflix curve. It still plays like an approximation & bounces between being overly convulated or oddly repetitious, w/ poorly edited sequences of still-impressive stunts/fisticuffs. The money is on the screen plus it’s (fortunately) a “complete movie.” pic.twitter.com/ozzlITLEza
—Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) July 11, 2022
“The Gray Man is a film in the average of Netflix productions. Everything is approximate, oscillating between a plot that is too complicated for what it is and repetitive sequences, poorly edited, despite impressive stunts. We still see the budget on screen and the movie has an end (hopefully).” Scott Mendelson- Forbes
A little banged up from the reviews but that’s ok
All in all, more than mixed feedback. Where, as one might expect, the critics remain lenient towards the actors (main selling points of the film, all the same) and the quality of the stunts, we oscillate between a certain shyness and a frank severity on the rest. We sometimes praise effective entertainment in which we don’t get bored (which is indeed the first function of entertainment), but the plot, like the writing of the characters, seems to be picked up from what we read. Putting humor in the foreground and the sympathy capital of its actors, The Gray Man comes across as a frenetically edited film, rarely clever, but often funny.
The observation is clear: we therefore have here the prototype of a copy of Red Notice and the beginning of a long series of films on the same model. Critics also often make the comparison with this one, some even putting the film with Dwayne Johnson above, in terms of quality! Bad sign as Red Notice was already vain and without any ambition other than to amuse the time of a rainy weeknight. In short, the ax has not yet fallen: the film will be released on July 22 on Netflix and it is only there that we will know what to hold on to for good.
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