'The Grey' is better than just a wolf-fighting B-movie

The Grey is derisively referred to as the "movie where Liam Neeson fights wolves" -- but I think it's much better than that,

After a second viewing, I've come to see the film as incredibly underrated and probably the best star-vehicle of Neeson's remarkable late career run as an action star.

I admit to having only seen this and the original Taken, and I prefer this film over that entertaining, but preposterously silly lark. Neeson is such a dynamic star presence because he just oozes sincerity (which is probably why he was uniquely equipped to play Oskar Schindler) and he is also totally credible as an action hero (despite his advanced age, he appears imposing).

The Grey is undeniably a B-movie, but it is a beautifully crafted one that was pretty misunderstood when it first hit theaters, even by me.

Neeson plays a rugged (and deeply sad) oil field worker who takes charge of a band of surly men after they survive a harrowing plane crash in an unforgiving Arctic landscape. I have no idea where they shot this film, but they do a remarkable job of making you feel the elements and the claustrophobic relentlessness of the barrage of snow.

Liam Neeson

As anyone who's seen the trailer is aware, the men are subjected to a series of brutal wolf attacks. These moments are effectively scary but they're also the least interesting thing about the movie. Essentially they provide a terrific existential threat that lends a certain doom to the proceedings.

I also think they are responsible for the mixed reception that the film got and continues to have. It opened well and did decent business, but it wasn't the movie a lot of audiences thought it would be.

For those seeking non-stop action (and constant wolf attacks) the movie was too slow and contemplative. And on the other end of the spectrum films snobs just couldn't get past the image of Neeson presumably putting up his dukes to single-handedly punch out a pack of wild animals.

The director of film, Joe Carnahan, will never be accused of subtlety -- this is the man behind Smokin' Aces and The A-Team after all. But He has a kind of ambitiousness that I find enjoyable.

He wants The Grey to be about something and also exciting in an old fashioned blood-and-guts kind of way. This movie shares some DNA with First Blood and other man-against-nature action classics of the 80s.

In the center of it all is Neeson, who rivals Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks among the ranks of our most trustworthy movie stars. Watching this movie, I genuinely thought to myself I would want this guy on my side if I was ever stranded in the wilderness. We just accept as an audience that his character has a thorough knowledge of the rituals and mentality of wolves because he delivers his dialogue with such knowing authenticity that it seems totally plausible.

Is The Grey a classic? Probably not, but it's certainly worthy of a revisit and reappraisal. I think Neeson has tapped into an audience desire to see more of a thinking man's action hero -- a role Harrison Ford played beautifully until his career took a bit of a downturn in the early 2000s. He invests every role, no matter how silly, will real feeling and while he can't always elevate the material, I think in this case he does.