The Gray Man

 

Ryan Gosling may not have played a superhero (yet) but he gets closer than ever before in the mega-budget Netflix production “The Gray Man,” the streaming service's summer blockbuster from the directors of “Avengers: Endgame,” Anthony and Joe Russo. It makes sense why Gosling would agree to work with the Russos to adapt Mark Greaney's book and why Netflix would give them access to their entire bank vault in order to launch their own mega-franchise.

But it's becoming increasingly obvious that Netflix has too little creative control over endeavors like these, allowing creators to simply disappear with their money and paying little attention to the final product. It does fit the algorithm, after all. Millions of people will watch "The Gray Man." A few days later, they simply won't be able to recall anything noteworthy about it. If this is the start of a series, which it almost likely is, let’s hope “The Gray Man” finds a bit more definition in future installments.

The "La La Land" and "Drive" star portrays Sierra Six ("007 was kidnapped"), a spy who was hired out of jail by Donald Fitzroy, a handler (Billy Bob Thornton). After that brief setup, "The Gray Man" gets right into the action with a mission gone horribly wrong when Six is given the assignment to kill a target who turns out to be another secret agent by a new boss named Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page). Before giving Six the evidence to back up his accusation, the dying man warns him that Denny is a nasty guy.

Before our stoic hero has even had a chance to establish a personality as a cinematic character, he is immediately on the run. This isn't nearly as tight of production as the "John Wick" franchise, but that kind of blank protagonist is perfect for taut, precise action movies. This movie needed an Ethan Hunt who was more than simply the stereotypical traits of having a troubled past and refusing to shoot children. (In all seriousness, it would be difficult to list five traits of this hero who we are expected to follow for two hours. Not a good sign ever.)

Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former CIA black ops mercenary who now works in the private sector where there are even fewer laws concerning things like torture and stupid mustaches, is called in by Carmichael as Six flees.

Hansen will take any measure necessary to obtain Six, even if it means abducting Claire (Julia Butters), the daughter of Fitzroy. Of course, Six feels a connection to Claire because she once protected her. He is the spy who cares about children's welfare, setting him apart from sociopaths like Hansen. As Six pursues his search for freedom, Dani Miranda, another spy, played by Ana de Armas, joins him. And, believe it or not, she receives even less character development than her male colleagues.

Really, that's it for the next two hours. Things go boom with a good guy, a bad person, a woman in the middle, and a kid in danger. Although some of the action scenes, particularly a crazy one in a town square, can be rather effective, most of the movie is shot in such oddly low light that it overpowers Gosling, Evans, and de Armas' amazing on-screen personalities. Seriously, whoever decided that "Ozarklow "'s light palette would be appropriate for the majority of a world-traveling action movie deserves a cinematic prison term.

With the exception of a wisecracking Evans, "The Gray Man" feels so programmatically bland. If it wants to be a new Fast & Furious or Bourne franchise, it should be wildly over-the-top. It's a stupid bit of popcorn entertainment that much too frequently overlooks the necessity of having fun in such an endeavor.

Evans is never shown as an intriguing threat, which contributes to the issue. In reality, he appears to be rather bad at his job; a colleague claims that a disastrous asset removal that made headlines will be used as an example in schools of what not to do. This is more of a good spy vs. a crazy spy conflict than a struggle of wills.

Although the script by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely keeps trying to sell us on Hansen being a terrifying genius and there's really no evidence of the latter part, there is something underdeveloped in the idea that Gosling is the traditional spy and Evans is the brute force modern maniac whose strategy seems to just be to blow up as much as possible.

The Gray Man," like a lot of other original content on streaming services, doesn't seem willing to take any real risks. Numerous articles have been written regarding the algorithms and templates that give the impression that they are making more creative decisions than real people.

When will a studio spend $200 million on a film and produce a "John Wick," "Mission: Impossible," "Mad Max: Fury Road," or even a "Fast Five"? For something like that to occur, a true superhero could be required.

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