In the Grey

Rating 5/10

Director Guy Ritchie has comfortably settled into the current phase of his career.  His pictures have become reliable entertainment destined for streaming.  Recent flicks like Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare didn’t reinvent the action genre, but they delivered solid thrills through sheer mechanical efficiency.  You get alpha operatives, fast-talking dialogue, and everyone on screen acting like they’re the coolest person alive.

In the Grey follows that blueprint.  It’s another globe-trotting thriller populated by morally questionable power players, all speaking in clipped Guy Ritchie banter while exchanging gunfire faster than their words.  The production was largely shot around Tenerife in the Canary Islands, as a stand-in for various glamorous international locations.  The developments are frustratingly brisk, rarely pausing to allow any emotional weight to develop.

The plot barely matters, but here goes: a clandestine squad of elite tacticians operates in a morally grey area.  A ruthless cartel despot named Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem) steals a billion-dollar fortune and wipes out the last syndicate sent after it.  Sid (Henry Cavill) is the calm tactical field leader, while Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) serves as the group’s unpredictable combat specialist.  Overseeing all of this is their boss, Rachel Wild (Eiza González), an intelligent strategist.  They’re also supported by a highly specialized crew that includes a security coordinator (Emmett J. Scanlan), combat backup (Kojo Attah), the fixer (Jason Wong ), and a surveillance expert (Christian Ochoa Lavernia).  They’re all united on a mission to steal back the money through an impossible heist.  Mostly, though, the assignment is to look dangerous, exchange cool quips, and eventually start firing automatic weapons.

Most of the focus is on Sid, Bronco, Rachel, and their crew as they try to corner Salazar before he can move or hide the stolen fortune.  They track his movements while trying to gain leverage over him.  Rachel handles many of the negotiations and manipulation tactics while Sid and Bronco oversee the operational side of the mission.  Salazar responds by using his lawyer (Fisher Stevens) and muscle (Kristofer Hivju ) to stall the operation whenever he realizes they are closing in.  The mission escalates into a broader war to gain control of the fortune.

I will admit my description is sadly pedestrian, but that’s the general milieu of the movie.  There’s no depth or substance to these characters.  They simply exist to serve a formula.  Ritchie’s films are basically playgrounds for guys who enjoy hearing an actor say ‘we’ve got a problem’ before blowing someone away.  In the director’s capable hands, though, even a generic actioner has some style to spare.  When characters discuss the various plans, the visual details are projected onscreen to augment the exposition.  There are some cool montages, flashy transitions, and even an entire cocktail recipe.  Something tells me that concoction goes down better than this story.

Actress Eiza González has the best role.  However, Rachel is so firmly in control of Salazar throughout that he never feels remotely threatening.  That negates the tension.  Our protagonists don’t seem vulnerable, so the snappy back-and-forth is supremely hollow.  Ritchie still knows how to keep scenes moving and how to make charismatic actors look good in expensive duds while delivering snarky one-liners.  I will say this is the strongest case for Henry Cavill to be the next James Bond that I’ve seen yet.  However, there’s almost no sense of escalation or danger here.  By the time the saga climaxes with the inevitable shootout, the perfunctory warfare turns remarkably bland.  You might genuinely start nodding off if the gunfire weren’t mixed loudly enough to keep waking you back up.

05-14-26