The Grey 2012

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: True to its grim prospectus, The Grey dwells in haunted machismo to the very end. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Neeson has the ability, unmatched by any other Hollywood leading man, to convey soul-deep anguish. In this picture, it's shattering in its intensity. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: A handsome but gabby take on the standard survivalist thriller that's more concerned with lofty metaphysics than which poor blockhead is about to bite it next. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: While some of the effects work is a little obvious, the film does a largely first-rate job of simulating the punishing environment the characters have to push against. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It's a fine, tough little movie, technically assured and brutally efficient, with a simple story that ventures into some profound existential territory without making a big fuss about it. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Moment to moment, the film is gripping and beautiful to behold (props to cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi for the mesmerizingly grainy, achromatic visuals). Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The Grey, despite moments of sublimity, is as predictable as a funeral. When Ottway angrily calls out to God, the nonanswer is sadly redundant. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: Certainly an adventure film but one with a spiritual ingredient that is both surprising and fiercely resonant. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Amounts to little more than a few tortured backstories and some high-toned discussions about the existence of God, all punctuated by the occasional CGI wolf attaching itself to someone's neck. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "The Grey" is a meat-and-potatoes movie about manly survival -- red meat and whatever kind of potatoes imply macho. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's cheap the way "The Grey'' wants to be both a Liam Neeson "Quit Taking My Stuff'' movie and an existential thriller about survival. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The movie draws on the terrifying beauty of the natural world and generates tension from the volatile dynamics of a carefully observed group. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: There's an actual human element to go with Carnahan's Jack London-inspired depiction of humans against the elements. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: The Grey remains a genuinely gripping survival story and a refreshing change from stale urban action flicks. Read more

Joy Tipping, Dallas Morning News: This gritty, relentlessly intense survival tale easily gets dibs on "feel-cold" movie of the year. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Grey" may appeal to those who like entrails, tough talk and bad endings. All others beware. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Winter-release slot + travel budget + Liam Neeson = slightly preposterous, routinely violent, apparently lucrative action movie... Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Three-fifths of a solid film! Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: A man's-man of a genre pic that will satisfy the action audience while reminding more discerning viewers what they saw in director Joe Carnahan's decade-old breakthrough, Narc. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The wolves seem to have watched a lot of "Friday the 13th" movies, because they have a knack for pouncing out of the shadows that rivals the mad skills of Jason Voorhees. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The film's conflicting tones never quite mesh, but some fine acting and powerful moments make "The Grey" watchable, if not entirely compelling. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Somewhere along the line, apparently, it was decided that having men fight for their lives is not enough to hang a movie on. It has to be a movie about Big Ideas. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: The Grey has a certain muscular pull: It's a tough-as-nails study of hardened men struggling with the ostensibly conflicting pulls of stoic masculinity on one hand and love, faith and fear of death on the other. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Joe Carnahan's great adventure follows Neeson's lead and stays steely to the end, even as its grizzled winners take nothing. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: It may be too conventional for the art-house crowd, yet too arty for the megaplex. I prefer to call it an unusually reflective blood-and-guts saga. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Prepare to be devastated. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Devolves into a predictable man-against-nature, and man-against-fellow man, affair. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The Grey is about raging against the dying of the light but also about accepting it with peace once the fight has been lost. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: This is much more than a man vs. nature vs. animal thriller. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: When I learned of Sarah Palin hunting wolves from a helicopter, my sensibilities were tested, but after this film, I was prepared to call in more helicopters. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Hold on tight. It's a true call of the wild. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: For all its macho standoffs and action set pieces and menacing off-screen howling, The Grey is at heart a simple moral fable about how true heroism consists in helping other human beings to live as long and die as well as they can. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The Grey" yanked me upright in my seat. It is, even as melodramatic and sometimes implausible entertainment, the best studio movie in a long time. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The film sustains some suspense and brooding atmosphere for its first half, but eventually the cliches of character and dialogue drag it struggling to ground. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Memories of The Grey will melt away before spring's first sunny day, but it will satisfy both fans of Neeson's serious performances in films like Kinsey and those who line up for his more recent spate of I-will-kill-everyone flicks. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: After the excesses of 'The A-Team', this is Carnahan stripping it back to basics - seven men, one wilderness, countless beasts. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: As stripped of colour as its title, apart from the red of flowing blood and burning eyes, The Grey urges contemplation on man as the human animal, one suddenly cast into the wilderness where real beasts dwell. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: What starts as a tense and moody survival thriller fairly quickly becomes tedious, forced and far-fetched as a septet of men is preyed upon by a wolf pack in the Alaska wilderness. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: Ultimately, the film feels less like a genuine existential thriller than a movie aping the conventions of one. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: Impressively lensed by Masanobu Takayanagi on aptly rugged terrain in British Columbia, The Grey is thoroughly persuasive in its depiction of desperate men battling unforgiving elements. Read more

Brian Miller, Village Voice: I was told there would be more wolf-punching. Read more