Friday, February 17, 2012

The Grey: A Review and a Reminder to use Pluggedin.com


Warning: Spoilers and Discussion of Adult Themes/Content Below!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




For those of you who are interested in seeing the latest Liam Neeson flic, "The Grey", please take the time to read this before you plop down your 9 bucks. The Grey is a movie about oil workers from Alaska. Liam Neeson plays a man who's job it is is to kill dangerous wildlife that gets too close to the workers. Being up there has obviously taken it's toll on Neeson. Suicidal thoughts are nearly taken to their conclusion as he puts his high powered rifle in his mouth. A wolf howl in the distance somehow triggers him to stop the regrettable action.

The scene shifts and a handful of the workers, who must be on some sort of break, are then shown shuffling on to a small plane leaving the desolate work environment. This leads into an unforgettable crash scene in which only 7 people, including John Ottway(Neeson), survive. The first night under the dark, cold Alaska sky reveals that they are not alone. The group of men is visited by vicious wolves. Ottway is attacked by one of these monsters and another one of the men is killed during his watch of the night. Ottway, who has studied the habits of wolves for his job, assumes the role of expert and leader. He suggests that the group has somehow wound up somewhere within a 30-300 mile radius of the den of these wolves. He also feels that no one will come looking for them and that the men need to get moving and to get to the treeline in the distance.

One by one the men are picked off by the pack of wolves until it is just John Ottaway, kneeling in their den with a knive and broken bottles of alcohol taped to his hands. He recites a poem that his dad had wrote. The poem is probably the highlight of the movie.

“Once more into the fray.

Into the last good fight I'll ever know.

Live and die this day.

Live and die this day.”

The movie ends with Ottway growling like an animal and lunging at the lead wolf. Epic ending.

Now reading this, you might be thinking The Grey sounds like a good movie. You would be right. The original story line is very refreshing in a watered down market of remakes and sequels. Even with a couple factual issues like not allowing weapons on planes and the mini alcohol bottles not being glass, the movie as a movie is really good. I mean who doesn't love a good man vs. beast flic? The problem is that the movie would have been easily just as good as a PG-13 move instead of an R. I won't go into detail of the gore which is here in plenty but that's not the biggest issue. The language is atrocious in this movie. I wouldn't have been able to keep track of the F bombs if I had tried. Now, to be fair it is a very accurate depiction of the language you would find amongst refinery workers. I should know lol. I had the worst mouth in the plant up until I got saved. The Grey is still, however, a never ending assault on the ears.

This is topped off at the end with John Ottway swearing at God and then asking Him for help. When God doesn't respond in the affirmative, Ottway pridefully says, "I'll do it myself". Neeson's character seemingly wants something to believe in based on an earlier interaction about faith when there were several characters still alive. Oh how far Aslan has fallen :/ You can't curse someone up and down and then ask them for help. It doesn't work with people, why would it work with the God who created us in His image?

As much as I did appreciate the films originality, I can't recommend this to anyone for viewing. I want to take this opportunity to remind you guys to do what I should have done. Check Plugged In from Focus on the Family before you go to the show(Click here to get the pluggedin.com review of The Grey). I could have saved my ears and my heart some unnecessary damage if I had visited their website prior to firing up the trusty Mazda 3. Thankfully I had passes and didn't waste any money on this movie. If you or anyone you know is wanting to see this, please pass this on. They can get the whole gist of the story by reading the above information. God bless. SaulBecomesPaul.

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