The Gray Man movie review & analysis (2022)

The Gray Man (2022) is the most expensive movie on Netflix and as an “action movie”, the acting of Ryan Gosling disappoints the audience with its storytelling.

Before anything else, it should be confirmed that “The gray man” is nothing more than a commercial and pop-corn type movie, and you can’t look for an attractive and thrilling story in it. You should watch this movie just as an entertaining show. If any thoughts other than this directed you to this movie, you would be disappointed for sure. “The gray man” continues the same recently popular formula for filmmaking studios. If you don’t have a convincing story, the charisma of the stars and your significant budget for the movie would certainly save you. “The gray man” continues the same path of action movies produced by Netflix, which don’t have a good story. This movie proves that the network still counts on stars and makes a huge profit through this policy.

“The gray man” is the first movie made from “The gray man” novels, which costs Netflix 200 million dollars. However, The Russo brothers managed to turn it into one of the most watched and best-selling movies on the network. After this huge selling success, The top managers of the network announced that the next parts of the movie would be produced based on “The gray man” novels. It is one of the most expensive and best seller movies ever produced by  Netflix. But can this summer blockbuster be something like “James bond” or “Mission impossible” and satisfies the network’s wishes? For how many days does this single movie stay on the viewer’s mind and make her wait for the next movie?

In the next paragraphs, some parts of the movie are exposed to the readers

Ryan Goslings plays the role of an anonymous CIA agent called sierra six. In one of his missions, he finds out that reality is different from the current situation. His bosses are involved in a series of catastrophic events. One of his victims gives him an important file, and the CIA sends one of its deadliest agents to hunt him. The last appearances of Ryan Gosling as Niel Armstrong, and also in the romantic movie “La La land”, and before that in the thriller movie “The Drive” gave us good memories. But in this movie, because of the story and other elements of the movie, he is unfamiliar to the viewer. It seems that Netflix just invested in the face of Ryan Gosling.

The idea of “The gray man” is similar to other spy & action movies. There is no innovation or creativity in the plot used to attract the audience. The story and all narrative elements of the movie seem fixed. The newest film of The Russo brothers who cooperate with Marvel is exactly like other spy movies such as “Jason Bourne”, “James bond” etc. A corrupted intelligence system, critical information on the global level, hostages, an attractive female agent, a charismatic ranger, and a hero to reveal the secrets of authorities and save innocent people are the main elements of “The gray man”.

The main bug of “The gray man” is the empty story chosen by the Russo brothers for this thriller. Besides the idea which is old and repetitive, twists and events in the plot have nothing to say. Various events are shown without any suspense and the anxiety generated from the interactions doesn’t impress the viewer. In fact, building explosions, tram riding, and high jumps are not very powerful to improve the thrill and twists of the screenplay. On the other hand, everything is very clear and the viewer can guess the next events and plots correctly.

The movie can generate interaction and thrill in the mind of the viewer if the hero overcomes very challenging issues and problems. Although agent six is in the middle of conflict, his enemies are not powerful enough to put him under pressure and attract the viewer to an attractive and thrilling story. In terms of narrative style, shallow challenges and insufficient details limited the movie to a thin surface, and the story ended without any meaningful impact. Since this movie is a character-based movie and the story is established around “agent Six”’s character, he should face various internal and external challenges of the plot to have an eternal picture in the mind of the viewer.

The approach which was selected for defining film characters and relations among them is another problem of “The gray man”. The characters are one-dimensional and only show pure violence and nothing more. Chris Evans plays the role of a psychic agent. His actions are cliché, uncontrollable, and interrupt everything. We have no further information on him, and the movie doesn’t give us any additional clues to know his character better. Meanwhile, Ana de Armas with her typical feminine charm has a meaningless relationship with Six, and it is not clear what is she looking for. The main unanswered question in the quality of interaction between characters is related to Six and Claire. Agent Six risks his life to save this teenage girl, but the movie mentions nothing about their past relationship and the conclusion of their relationship.

There is a more important problem related to “The Gray man”. The audience can’t recognize the main subject of the movie. What is agent Six looking for beyond the chases? In an overview, it is clear that the movie does everything to entertain the viewer, but our feelings are focused on one gap,  what was the goal of the movie? “The gray man” doesn’t explain the mission of Six, is he trying to publish information, or is he focused on saving his friend’s nephew? He seems like a wandering character who doesn’t know what is his main goal. A gun is put in his hand and he should kill anyone in his path.

In technical terms, “The gray man” is a masterpiece. It tries to cover its weaknesses through action scenes and astonishing visual effects. The movie tries to inject thrill and suspense only through action. There is no doubt that the viewer likes explosions, special effects, and fights, but it doesn’t guarantee that the viewer stays loyal to the movie and memorize it. “The gray man” is alive with colors, explosions, chases, shoot-outs, and special effects, and has nothing more for the viewer.

Now is the time to answer this question, Can agent six’s movie turn into a series like 007 movies? And make a good impact on the viewer’s mind? The answer is “The gray man” imitates the successful spy thrillers from the beginning and everything looks familiar. This movie is pure action and has nothing more. In fact lack of a high-quality story and insufficient character development (for Agent Six) are the main obstacles for Netflix. It is already a pop-corn blockbuster movie, which fades away from the mind of the audience very soon.

The Gray Man ending explained:

Hansen ultimately lets go of Claire, but Brewer (Henwick), who vows to blame Carmichael for the entire operation, shoots Hansen to death before Sierra Six can kill his final victim. Brewer vows to always keep Claire safe, but only if Sierra Six agrees to cooperate with her in the future.

Was Lloyd Six’s brother?

However, The Gray Man never reveals how Lloyd Hansen got so deranged. The chat about the funeral with Fitzroy shows that Lloyd has been dangerous at least since his college years, but The Gray Man says nothing about what caused his violent, immoral personality.

What is the meaning behind The Gray Man?

An ordinary individual who blends into the background and makes no attempt to stand out from the throng is referred to as a “gray man.” When used in military contexts, such as for Sierra Six in the movie, it refers to someone who consistently completes their task before quietly leaving.

Is Lloyd alive in The Gray Man?

But in the end, CIA bigwig Suzanne (Jessica Henwick), who shows up on the scene and fatally shoots Lloyd in the chest, delivers the killing blow.