Most modern stories are built around a skeletal system: there are the bad guys, with their evil scheme, and the good guys to disband said wicked plans.
The Grey, starring Liam Neeson and a handful of lesser knowns to unknowns, opts for a different formula. The story starts with a plane crash, leaving 7 survivors from what was originally maybe 25-30 Alaska based oil workers.
Being somewhat of a survival expert, Ottway (Liam Neeson) takes charge, with an intent to lead these men back to the families and lives they were all headed toward before their plane went down.
There is peril and grave desperation, yet wolves replace the much more commonly used evildoers, though those eyes, hidden in fur, that glow in firelight, and teeth like a mouthful of daggers make them look like Satan's hounds. While the stranded, plane crash survivors are used in the place of good guys,though not all of them are very good at all to the point that I didn't mind the possibility of them dying.
Outside of its plot setting, The Grey is layered in good storytelling. One of the movie's strongest elements, in my opinion, is its ability to make the characters seem like actual people, though that is also something to applaud the cast for. Amidst all the "we're stranded in the cold, with wolves" stress, there is one lighthearted, campfire discussion, wherein the characters talk of what is keeping them going, and a few jokes said had me thinking that I could imagine the people I know saying those exact things.
It is early in the year, and I refuse to be that guy, saying, "best film of the year so far!" I already had high expectations for this movie based on the trailer alone, and the actual film lived up to my hype. If you have the slightest interest, make time to see The Grey.
—Thomas
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