In the Grey

Guy Ritchie‘s In the Grey offers what fans expect from the director: relentless but nimble editing; breathtaking locations (Spain, Saudi Arabia, the Canary Islands); clothes, shoes, and hair to die for; the self-mocking machismo and playful insults of male bonding; and a character’s verbal summary of a plan intercut with shots of the actions being performed.

These days, Ritchie’s films are all about fabulous looking people causing a ruckus and blowing a lot of stuff up and taking out less good-looking bad guys in the bargain. “In the Grey” not only delivers these goods but goes into copious detail about just how Sid and Bronco get their ruckus up to speed.

It’s Ritchie in fun-workhorse mode, more businesslike than Operation Fortune but fleeter than Fountain Of Youth.

If nothing else, Guy Ritchie’s latest effort proves that a movie can be ridiculously convoluted and simple-minded at the same time.

At some point before the truncated-seeming finale, the film is just chasing its own tail.

Filled with never-ending voice over and exposition, utterly vapid and personality-free characters, and dull action beats, In the Grey is a low point for director Guy Ritchie, who’s proven in the past he’s capable of delivering much more entertaining films.

I'm never one to complain about a 98-minute action movie, but, in the end, In the Grey feels rushed. Some extra time could have not only paid off all that planning Sid and Bronco do in more impressive ways, but also given the characters more space to feel like actual characters, as opposed to just standard-issue tough-guy archetypes.

I suspect this film was inspired by the game Jagged Alliance 2 and it's popular new sequel Jagged Alliance 3. That was one of the coolest aspects of the film. Otherwise the film lacked alot of characterization, and relied entirely on it's pretty good cast. But there is nothing to bite into in this tasty snack. The only interesting character in the film is the main one Rachel, but we are given no info on her background, training, motivation and so on. I thought Ritchie had gone totally soft with his Young Sherlock series, but apparently i was wrong as this is a traditional action film albeit with a female at it's lead, but she's quite feminine so no complaints here.

In the Grey is what most people thought Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was. The first half is just a montage of exposition dump. That is of course presented with extremely charismatic actors, who we all love. Then the second half delivers with the action, dynamic camera movement, good sound design and well-executed visual effects. What pains me, is that this could've been similar to Ocean's-trilogy. Instead of saying and sometimes showing, they should've only shown what's happening. And I know that would've been extremely hard to do with the fast pacing, because if you slow this movie down, it would become boring. But I think Guy Ritchie would've been capable of that as shown in the second half.

Guy Ritchie is Officially Losing his touch. The only thing I appreciate in this film is, of course, "THE CAVIL" and "THE JAKE". Everything else is just a generic action movie, trying to be a clever/smart movie. 6/10, you'll watch it, but it really doesn't allow you to bond over anything at all.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Writer/director Guy Ritchie is known for his cleverly-staged smart action films like “Snatch” & “Sherlock Holmes,” but he’s gone flat with this one. Even with Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill in the lead, it doesn’t have much going for it (although there is discussion that the duo is a gay couple). They play extraction professionals who are hired by a woman they call “mom” (Eiza González) to retrieve a billion-dollar loan. Most of the movie lays out the elaborate plans with precise detail before the inevitable big chase. Ritchie’s script is very methodical without any of the sassy comedy that make his films more fun. The performances are jaunty, but the action (Ritchie’s hallmark) is unoriginal and unexciting. This movie got little advance press and it’s easy to see why: There’s no black humor or white hot action, just a bland gray movie.