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The last decade has been a busy one for the Russo Brothers, who made the jump from directing comedy series like Community to helming Marvel movies. Now that they’ve moved on from the Avengers, they’ve been taking their experiences—and their contacts—and doing their own thing with movies like the big budget Netflix original The Gray Man.
The Gray Man stars Ryan Gosling as a shadowy CIA operative known only as Six. When a job in Bangkok doesn’t go as planned, Six comes face-to-face with his target, who informs him that he’s a fellow operative from the Sierra program—that the Agency is clearly erasing the program to cover something up. Before he dies, the target gives Six a drive with incriminating information about their boss and sends him on a mission to reveal the truth. But when Six goes rogue, unstable contractor Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) is brought in to stop him.
As Six travels around the world, so much about this adventure looks and feels like a Jason Bourne movie. It’s slick and stylish and explosive, too, racing from one gorgeous international city to another (and often leaving a whole lot of destruction in its wake). And its non-stop action is only enhanced by the right cast.
Gosling makes a likable hero—tough but charming and always ready to throw out a corny one-liner. Ana de Armas, meanwhile, easily holds her own in the midst of the action and adventure as fellow CIA Agent Dani Miranda. But Chris Evans steals the show as wildly unhinged Lloyd Hansen. His character couldn’t be farther from Captain America—as flamboyantly over-the-top as a classic Bond villain. And while some viewers may find him to be entirely too much, it’s clear that he’s enjoying every minute of this absolutely insane role—and that makes him fun to watch.
And, for the most part, that’s true of most of The Gray Man: it’s just plain fun. It may be a pretty typical big-budget action movie with a somewhat generic story of secrets and cover-ups, but the cast and the international settings make for entertaining summer viewing.
It may not be a mega-franchise superhero thriller like the Russos’ Marvel movies, but these directors have taken the action and drama and light comedy of their Avengers movies and created an enjoyable spy movie that’s worth checking out from the comfort of your own home. Just be sure to watch it on your biggest screen to get as much of the full effect as possible.
You can find The Gray Man in theaters beginning on July 15, 2022—and streaming on Netflix starting on July 22, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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