Review of The Grey (2012) by Mezurya — 11 Feb 2012

My best friend, my girlfriend, and myself all came to see this together. Luckily for us, we were in an empty theater, so we got to talk and jab at each other like the jerks that we are. While we did occasionally giggle at each other about certain silly things in the movie ("Suddenly, wolves!" chomp), I myself did actually find myself immersed in the suspense of the movie. There are, as is expected, a few jump scares here and there, but thankfully, there are also some subtle scares as well. As an example, a wolf may just jump out from off camera and make a loud noise and attack, or the the camera may slowly pan to reveal that a wolf stalking close behind a character, just before he attacks. While it is pretty plain to see that the behavior of the wolves is pretty unrealistic, I don't think it really HAS to be 100%, because at its core, that is not what the movie is about. These wolves don't act like real ones, they're more like large monsters (I am reminded of the Worgs from Lord of the Rings). These wolves act as the "slasher villain" for the movie. The movie is mostly about the death, in itself. Nearly all the characters (other than the few nameless slasher victims) do in some way have a revelation about dying, and dealing with their or their friends inevitable deaths. The movie is told from Liam Neeson's perspective, and so you feel how he is feeling the most. I really did enjoy this movie, and unlike most people I've heard from, I enjoyed the ending a lot. It's the only one that makes sense, really (unless you actually want a scene of Neeson fist fighting a wolf like it was straight out of Taken). Anything else might have come off as silly. And as a side note, Neeson's on-and-off Irish accent got a little distracting (for the first ten minutes I wondered if he even had one).

And so, if that was all a bit too much to read, here are my thoughts. Even though some parts may come off as silly, I thought the movie as a hole was fantastic. It works as a drama, it works as a thriller, and it works as a movie. Just get ready to be depressed, but not in a bad way. I've been Mezurya, and I think you should watch this movie.