The Grey

Liam Neeson pumps up the volume on his reputation as a middle-age neck-snapper with “The Grey.” It makes for an occasionally suspenseful, if credibility-stretching thriller. And it’s a departure for director Joe Carnahan, who usually approaches action-adventure with a smirk and a wink and instead goes for something more grim. Neeson is Ottway, a loner type working at a remote Alaskan oil-drilling station as the man whose duty it is to keep predators away from camp. On a flight to Anchorage with a bunch of his colleagues, the plane goes down in the middle of an icy nowhere, killing most on board. The survivors include a mouthy ex-con (Frank Grillo), an introvert (Dallas Roberts), a dad who’s afraid of heights (Dermot Mulroney), a smart aleck (Joe Anderson), a guy prone to altitude sickness (Nonso Anozie), and Ottway. They soon realize that not only do they have to deal with the elements but a veritable gang of wolves. The movie has sparked anger from some animal-rights activists who say it demonizes wolves and creates unnecessary fear. But the wolves shouldn’t be viewed through the prism of realism but through the lens of a horror film where animals represent our deepest fears. In that sense, “The Grey” is often brutally effective. “The Grey” falters in a few areas: At times, the animatronic effects used to create the wolves are too obvious, and the one-by-one kill-off plotline employed in so many horror films gives “The Grey” a plodding predictability. At nearly two hours, it’s also too long. Be sure to stay through to the end of the credits, though whether you think the brief coda is a rip-off or inspired may depend on how you view what came before it.