The Gray Man

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388249#Comment_119388249

'Algorithmic' means that an algorithm has 'determined' what audiences like, and a film has been designed around that - making it feel rote or excessively, overtly over-engineered. With Netflix films it can be hard to tell which films are actually algorithmic, and which ones just feel algorithmic :P

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388319#Comment_119388319

I'm sad now.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388249#Comment_119388249

Basically what Johnny described: these Netflix films feel like humans never wrote the scripts, inasmuch as they were automatically generated based on metrics derived from Netflix's databases. Just "Content" we're meant to watch for a couple of hours, then oh, why not binge this series when you're done?

I've watched much worse films than The Gray Man in my time - but it's this constant stream of bland porridge Netflix tries to pass as Big Blockbuster Entertainment is whittling away my patience. Crazy money spent on something whose output is so banal, so much a shoulder-shrug - it ends up more offensive than something demonstrably terrible. At least a genuinely Bad Movie gives rise to discussion, jokes and so-bad-it's-good enjoyment on occasion.

Crazy to say, I miss the days when blockbusters were produced by executives blitzed out of their mind on cocaine; say what you will but you got some really batshít crazy films out of that period. The obsession for the 1980s means we keep getting these pastiches and "homages" without any of the actual creative vitality that spawned the originals in the first place.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388319#Comment_119388319

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388349#Comment_119388349

Cocaine gave us movies such as Flashdance, Beverley Hills Cop, Top Gun, Beverley Hills Cop 2, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide, Bad Boys and The Rock. And that is just from one producer. Excessive cocaine use should be compulsory for movie execs.

Full_Circle_81

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/26/23279002/netflix-the-gray-man-sequel-spinoff-cinematic-universe

Cinematic universe baby! Who didn't see this coming?

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390619#Comment_119390619

Me, for one. It's one film. I don't see any room for a sequel much less a whole cinematic universe.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388454#Comment_119388454

It's not like Hollywood wasn't keen to appeal to demographics back then either - but it feels to have been taken to excess now; any rough edge or eccentricity sanded off 'til there's nothing left except superficiality. Probably comes from studios run by marketing executives rathe than movie moguls. As you say, producers like Don Simpson were behind an obscene number of crowd-pleasing classics of the 80s and 90s. And while they had their demographic box-ticks, the films often had a manic energy behind them, an energy that felt ... supplemented by drugs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390712#Comment_119390712

The film is based on a series of books so the runway is there to do sequels (never even heard of the novels before this film was announced so couldn't tell you much else).

But Netflix have tried this before; who remembers Bright 2? Exactly.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390835#Comment_119390835

Sure but this wasn't much of a best first foot to be putting forward. I found it watchable but only barely.

Shred

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390619#Comment_119390619

Yeah Empire reported that there were hopes of turning it into a franchise in their piece on the film a while ago.

Personally, I really enjoyed it, so much so that I've watched it twice. Did I expect it to change my life? No. Did it change my life? No. Did I find it entertaining? Absolutely.

McFly85

Completely insipid with zero style. I watched it hours ago but I can barely remember it. All the ingredients were there for at the very least an entertaining couple of hours but it’s like they collectively decided to phone it in because who cares, Netflix is footing the bill.

I’m going to watch Michael Flatleys the Blackbird when it comes out, and while it will undoubtedly review worse than this, I’m willing to bet that it I’ll find it more entertaining and memorable than this.

Brief_Lives

That was so much fun..

Chris Evans cracked me up..

Ana de Armas needs this John wick spinoff...

The young actress was excellent..

Agent Coulson

A Sequel is now officially in development and Gosling is set to return.

An R rated spin off also in the works.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390920#Comment_119390920

Well, going by precedent Netflix don't care about quality, they care about eyeballs. Something like Red Notice was, IIRC, its biggest movie to date based on their flimsy, unknowable metrics. I swear these movies aren't technically made to be watched, but half-watched while you're doomscrolling on your phone.

speedboatchase

I wouldn't get too excited about a sequel just yet...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/07/27/netflix-announced-gray-man-sequel-to-distract-from-disappointing-ratings/?sh=245335e41604

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119392209#Comment_119392209

I honestly thought this was a joke but The Blackbird is apparently a thing. If Netflix are struggling, why are they churning out dross like this?

Shred

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395142#Comment_119395142

The Russo’a obviously don’t read Boards.ie 😂

"The audience reaction to The Gray Man has been nothing short of phenomenal. We are so appreciative of the enthusiasm that fans across the world have had for this film," say the Russos in a statement.

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/the-gray-man-russo-brothers-announce-sequel-and-spin-off/

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395219#Comment_119395219

As per that article I linked: 'A sequel was once an (often unplanned) affirmation that audiences saw and liked a movie. Now, in a world where shareholders demand that everything be a franchise and/or a cinematic universe (with no proof that audiences want endless spin-offs to that movie or show they saw and liked), it’s a premature announcement to sell the idea of consumer success. They greenlit a sequel, so it must be a hit!'

Let's wait and see if a sequel gets made.

Shred

Ah I wasn’t aiming that at you, it’s just most here have slated it which doesn’t reflect the Russo’s statement.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395177#Comment_119395177

Because movies like this are seen as safe bets. Which I guess makes sense when other swings have failed and the service is losing subs. Bland porridge they might be but when you look at what hits the Box Office summit, The Gray Man isn't that dissimilar in terms of overall quality; it's only that Netflix's output is more egregiously cookie cutter, lazier.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119395959#Comment_119395959

How would a Michael Flatley espionage flick be a safe bet though? Gray Man had two recognisable male leads and the directors behind some of the largest box office smashes in history.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396009#Comment_119396009

Sorry I think we have wires crossed. Blackbird isn't made by Netflix, it's just some vanity project of Flattley, but I think the hope was it turns up on Netflix (IIRC it was made in 2018 but has floated in limbo since, lacking distribution). The eagerness over it has been a desire to know just how bad it likely was.

I was talking about the Gray Man being the safe bet.

I'd missed picking up the fact the same director(s) had also produced and written "Extraction" also (hadn't bothered to note who had done it as didn't think much of it).

Found that movie terribly boring (and yes of course there is a second one coming).

When you think of the effective low budget thrillers that have been achieved in recent years - e.g. the $5 million "Green Room" (granted a different vibe of movie but "The Gray Man" doesn't come close at any point in terms of intensity) then the $200 million on "The Gray Man" seems completely outlandish

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119396265#Comment_119396265

No worries. I'd say makes more sense but, while I found The Gray Man watchable, that's an appallingly low bar for someone like the Russos (Russoes?) to jump over.

~Rebel~

Found this a lot more fun and playful than I expected. Lots of nice little moments of levity to soften some of the bigger self-serious action sequences, and some excellent close choreography at times (that Dhanush fella was great!). I also liked that it actively called out some of its own more preposterous scenes as well. Some great little pieces of timing too, cracked up when Gosling, out of focus in the background, awkwardly falls off a roof.

It is what it is, it's not gonna change the world, and it definitely has its problems, but it was streets ahead of nonsense like Red Notice. Felt like the solid mid-tier actioner that we've not really had as much of over the past decade or two.

pixelburp

Netflix's greenlight strategy nailed within 10 seconds of the always chortlesome Pitch Meeting series:

https://youtu.be/IK9Nf5H-0OI

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402212#Comment_119402212

Ah, well where diverge is in thinking the Russo's are talented in the first place 🤭🤓

ancapailldorcha

What's wrong with the Russos, exactly? I wouldn't be a mad Marvel fan but I've enjoyed their work there.

Royale with Cheese

Absolute tripe. Laughable that they spent $200m on this with the amount of piss poor CGI in it, I had assumed when watching that they were doing it on the cheap but was shocked after when I saw that $200m figure.

spookwoman

Great fun and very entertaining. Non stop action, very cliché and worth 2 hours.

larchielads

Can somebody put a bullet in this ken dolls head??!!!!

is_that_so

Pretty passable telegraphed stuff but an easy if ridiculously absurd watch. You kind of know what you're getting but it's no Bourne, nor MI but a banker for Netflix!

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119411904#Comment_119411904

I wondered was that ad libbed by Chris

JP Liz V1

One thing I didn't understand was how the Suzanne lady was alive unsratched after Ana blew up the main tech office of the castle which she was in

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119528609#Comment_119528609

Because it wasn't a very good movie.