Posted by In The Grey is the latest in a long line of slick Guy Ritchie crime capers, replete with fast action, fast dialogue and plenty of gruff and tough types. This glossy spectacle stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill as the loyal, ready for anything ‘enforcers’ who help Eiza González’s rather forward lawyer Rachel Wild gather debts from unscrupulous businessmen around the world.
The billionaire businessman in question is Manny Salazar, an entitled, selfish and snarling Carlos Bardem. Thus begins the suave action thriller as Rachel Wild lays down a barrage of legal traps and lawsuits, slowly but surely harassing him into paying his billion dollar debt to a multi national financial firm headed by Bobby, a rather underused Rosamund Pike. This colourful, by the book, crime flick climaxes with a showdown on Manny’s private island and a well choreographed cavalcade of fist fights, nimble car chases and video game-esque gun fights with bullets and explosions everywhere you look. With a training montage thrown in for good measure, and even Rocky had a montage…
As entertaining as Guy Ritchie films are, his more blokey fare tends to be more style than substance – if you have seen one you have seen them all. This one is a fast pace affair with a parade of hard as nails characters with quips and punches to spare, facing an endless conveyor belt of goons and bullets, all backed up by a bland story. Try as they might, not even the Hollywood star power of Cavill and Gyllenhaal and the $70million budget can enliven this.
5/10
