Dhanush is making his Hollywood debut with “The Gray Man.” The Russo Brothers, known for their blockbuster hits like “Avengers: Endgame,” are in charge of directing the high-budget action movie.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have a long history of working together. A few short films, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, have been produced by this group of writers and directors.
These four are reuniting to create The Gray Man, a $200 million action thriller based on Mark Greaney’s book, after their huge Marvel success. For a high-octane action film that doesn’t hold back despite falling short in the story and character development department, Netflix has gathered some of the most gorgeous faces in Hollywood.
This is a Russo brothers film. If the MCU taught us anything, it’s that the Russos are masters at handling chases, shootouts, and fight scenes flawlessly. There are two reasons why viewers should add this movie to their Netflix queue. The first is the action, which is expertly captured throughout.
The stunt work on display is fantastic as usual, and the Russos know when to employ wide vistas and closeups to create brilliant, exhilarating action that works beautifully.
This film has moments that make me think of the gritty thrills from their Captain America movies, but other moments make me think that it’s trying to copy John Wick’s use of neon colors. Despite the film’s vivid colors, colorful smoke, and pyrotechnics, there are instances when it can appear desaturated and visually uninteresting.
Even Netflix’s cheaper action movies, like Kate and Gunpowder Milkshake from a year ago, have a more enticing visual style than this movie, which tries to look amazing but never quite manages to pull it off. However, with nonstop action and a rapid pace, this film aims to entertain, and it succeeds well in doing so.
The three movie stars who appear at the beginning of the film are the second reason Netflix customers will devour this picture. Six, a CIA black ops mercenary who must flee, is portrayed by Ryan Gosling.
In his first part in four years following First Man in 2018, he completely sells himself as an action hero, even though the film never makes use of his Oscar-nominated acting talent. Chris Evans reteams with the Russos and plays a role that is utterly unrelated to Captain America.
Six’s psychopathic former coworker Lloyd Hansen, sporting an a-hole mustache, is more than willing to track him down. Evans is back in his pre-Stars and Stripes area of playing scoundrels, and he does so with effortless grace. Gosling and Evans are two attractive people who are archenemies and work magic together.
In this movie, Ana de Armas reteams with her Knives Out and Blade Runner 2049 co-stars Dani Miranda, a supporter of Six’s goal. Despite being a talented actress, de Armas, like Gosling, never has a chance to stand out in this picture. She is largely one-dimensional throughout the movie, and the directing never lets her show the magnetism she has in No Time to Die.
This film most strongly reminds me of Red Notice from 2021, another instance of Netflix bringing together three attractive movie actors for a $200 million action movie that audiences will watch and then forget about after the credits have rolled.
The cameo Dhanush made in The Gray Man has been praised. To the delight of the Indian fans, despite having a small part in the movie, he steals the show. Here’s a sneak peek at Dhanush’s assassination in The Gray Man.
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The Gray Man has the cast, funding, and crew to rank among the summer’s most exciting theatrical productions. The end product, an exhilarating action movie with an incredible train scenario and a storyline that does nothing intriguing, feels more at home in Netflix’s streaming release model. Six doesn’t get much backstory until an hour and a half in, and even then, it isn’t really utilized.
The Russos’ direction is terrific anytime they take a step back, even though the plot is only a convenient pretext for action scenes. Similar to how their aesthetic in Cherry could have detracted from the movie, their flashier drone images occasionally do. It’s a movie that earns no marks for realism but lots of points for the background noise that makes you want to switch off your brain every now and then.