I am a self-confessed huge Liam Neeson fan, and having recently watched him again in the fantastic Taken on DVD I was really looking forward to seeing his latest Hollywood blockbuster The Grey. The film follows a group of oil workers who are stranded after their plane crashes in the remote Alaskan landscape as they try to make their way to safety.
The film starts well, with a couple of intriguing scenes introducing Neeson's character John Ottoway, who works as a contractor for an Alaskan Oil company protecting the drilling team from the savage wolves that threaten them and their work. John appears to be at his lowest ebb as he writes a letter to his former partner and then contemplates suicide over the failure of his relationship. Thankfully he reconsiders and soon joins the oil workers on a flight home.
The plane crash that follows is a rollercoaster ride of epic CGI portions - enough to make even the bravest individual think twice when boarding an aeroplane. After, Ottoway comes to and starts to rally the oil workers into finding their way to civilisation. The group, much depleted from the crash, soon realise that they are not the only inhabitants of the Alaskan wasteland and what follows can only be described as an hour and a half of suspense, gore and frights as the men battle a hungry wolf pack.
By the end of the film, with somewhat fraught nerves, you can reflect on the personal emotional journeys made by each of the characters as they try to escape. The only flat note is the ending of the film itself. I was left feeling almost as if the 1 and a half hour emotional investment was somewhat wasted.