The Grey (2011)

A survival film about a group of oil workers, whose plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, who attempt to find rescue but are hunted by a pack of territorial wolves.

Liam Neeson stars as the film’s protagonist, a man who at the beginning of the movie, attempts to kill himself with a rifle, only to find himself in a life-threatening situation. The group, after the crash, are left in chaos, with many of their fellow colleagues and the flight crew dead from the impact. They must find shelter from the punishing weather conditions, find any kind of provisions to keep them going, whilst searching for rescue. However, during the first night, wolves enter their crash site, and begin feeding on the dead, whilst intimidating those left alive.

Neeson’s character, a rifleman with a troubled back story, is the only one with survival training, and attempts to lead the surly group of oil workers to safety, only to find his decisions being undermined by the others, and occasionally leading them right into the path of these vicious wolves. Treacherous landscapes are in abundance as the group attempt to vacate the wolves’ hunting ground, and hope they don’t stumble into their den.

This type of movie will always divide opinion. Many viewers find survival stories to be one of the most engaging types of narrative, whilst some find the depressingly perilous nature of them to be uninteresting. The Grey is a film that takes a gruelling plot, places it within this baron, cold, uninviting landscape, and then offers very little consolation by the end. The setbacks keep coming with a vengeance, the characters are exposed and vulnerable, suffering a variety of wounds/deaths, and there is little time for much character development of the supporting players.

This being said, The Grey does also include a worthwhile performance from Neeson, who delivers a petrified-hero-with-a-few-scars very well, and whose character does benefit from a little development. The beautiful cinematography in this movie is also worth mentioning, as is the dedication to the filming - as most was done on location and the stunts look pretty impressive. Moments of sheer terror are delivered by the wolves, although slight similarities between them and those of the Twilight movies are painfully obvious.

If you like these types of movies, and are ok with a mostly bitter ending, then The Grey will offer you an engaging story filled with peril and danger. However, if you are easily depressed, averse to cold weather, or reluctant to watch animals being punched in the face by Liam Neeson with broken bottles on his hands, then The Grey will probably feel like a lesson in survival for you!