Netflix has been making their original action thrillers in the last few years, but finding very little success.
The recent Red Notice failed miserably despite having cast with big names like Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. This time, this OTT platform attempts once again to do well in this genre with The Gray Man, including the likes of Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas and so on.
This film has a spy thriller tone in its plot, as a lot of CIA elements are added. Ryan Gosling plays the protagonist role of Sierra Six, who is an ex-convict of manslaughter working as an assassin for the CIA in exchange for his freedom.
He is forced to be on the run after discovering dangerous secrets of one of the rising CIA officials, Denny Carmichael. Evading the organisation and Carmichael's hired guns, Six enlists help from many of his colleagues who want Carmichael to be apprehended.
The Gray Man has a star-studded cast. Chris Evans plays the role of Lloyd Hansen, who is hired by Carmichael to track down Six. He is a sociopath, sadist and having no remorse for collateral damage, making him a good enough villain for Gosling's character.
Evans is not known much for playing antagonistic characters, but managed to portray this character perfectly.
But the film has weak use of cast and plot as well. Ana de Armas plays the role of Dani Miranda, a CIA agent who worked with Six in a mission first then helps him to shake off Carmichael's henchmen.
Armas plays a character that's almost similar to a character she played in a James Bond film No Time to Die, Agent Paloma. But in The Gray Man, Agent Miranda doesn’t look as bright as Agent Paloma.
This film has a good set of well choreographed action sequences, but lacks a sophisticated plot.
The plot looks bland and predictable, just a spy movie with a great show of actions and characters exposing the lies of other characters. There's a lot of fights and killings to take down the villain, but in the end, he gets away; pulling off all these actions for nothing.
But that does not stop the film from gaining popularity. As it's currently on #1 in movies ranking on Netflix, seems like the audience are all in for action and caring less about the plot.
Including an ensemble cast with internet's some of the most beloved actors like Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas might contribute to this popularity as well. South Indian actor Dhanush also caught some attentions. But the question is, can Netflix redeem themselves in the action thriller genre?
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