Entry 1: RE: "The Grey" - "Wolves are Wimps"

Posted by: Bradley Redder

Well, after a little research inspired by some comments in your review I have discovered that you're claims about wolves are wrong. It is true that wolves would not act in real life as they do in this film, but rather than savagely attack all of the men at once and kill them, they are much more likely to run away at the sight of a human, especially several standing next to a fire with weapons in hand. Much of Neeson's character's expertise on wolves is actually entirely made-up as well, but where some may see this as a bad thing, I honestly don't care.

I'm not usually one to attack a film's verisimilitude, or its faith to source material, two things that come into play with The Grey, as it is also an adaptation of a short story. I'm all for dramatic license and, in the case of adaptations especially, I actually prefer it. In the case of fabricating a new reality, or certain aspects of it, as long as it is done with any amount of care, I'm all for it. It's essentially like a sci-fi premise. If the wolves just cowered away from Neeson and co. throughout the film, how boring would that be? Carnahan establishes that Neeson knows wolves, and Neeson gives us the rundown on these wolves, and that's enough for me... for all intents and purposes, they're real. And the film is all the better because of it, for it rewards anyone willing to go along with its premise, however unrealistic it might be.

As for the wolves being allegorical in some way, I don't see it either, though I also don't see it as just a bunch of dudes fighting wolves. In addition to setting the film up as a sort of blind-siding character study , which I'll discuss in a later post, I think it speaks to man's reaction to and impulse in a dangerous situation. I say The Grey redefines the Hollywood notion of manliness, because in this film fear and recognition of danger seem to be the hallmark of a real man, a capable hero. Neeson freely admits that he is terrified, "scared shitless" when addressing Diaz's (Frank Grillo) false-bravado, which not only makes him feel more heroic for being able to handle himself throughout the film, but also resets the audience's expectation and makes the experience that much more perilously exciting... heroes don't admit to being scared, so if he does, then who knows what we're about to see? It's just one more thing that I feel sets this apart from a typical action thriller.

Also, your opening line is funny... On the blu-ray commentary, Joe Carnahan says that he feels the plane crash is the best crash sequence ever filmed. While I'm inclined to see this as cocky and automatically disagree, I actually can't think of a better one off the top of my head. Thoughts?