The Grey

Liam Neeson

Directed by Joe Carnahan

Rating: B-

Ottway (Neeson) is a wolf hunter up in Alaska. On his way home, his plane goes down and only eight survive the crash. Ottway in the others make camp in the freezing cold of Alaska, trying to keep it together. Surviving the crash is one thing, but surviving the wolves that keep hunting them down is a complicated task when they have nothing to do protect themselves with.

"The Grey" is a simple movie to describe. At the heart of it, it's a survival movie and pretty predictable. Liam Neeson is the leader of the group (why wouldn't he be when he is a wolf hunter and knows how they prey?). Liam's character and the group decide staying by the plane might be a poor decision since the wolves keep coming back so they trek to the woods in hopes of finding shelter.

This film is a pretty intense movie and by the end of it, you don't know how to feel about it. The ending is what you gets you. "The Grey" could have easily moved from a "B-" to a "B" or "B+" if the director had expanded the last scene instead of cutting it short. Or perhaps made an alternate ending. While it's been a while since a fight for survival has been in theaters (unlike "Haywire" but more fighting against nature) it's a nice change from the action movies.

"The Grey" was more of a movie you would watch at home and definitely better to rent than buy (unless you're a sucker for Liam Neeson films and survival genres). Personally, I thought it was a good movie. Maybe not the best one made but it was different and Liam Neeson wasn't too disappointing.

The A-Team (2010)

Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley

Directed by Joe Carnahan

Rating: 3 stars

Hannibal (Neeson), Face (Cooper), B.A. Baracus (Jackson), and Murdock (Copley) make up the A-Team. They've become a group of friends like a dysfunctional family. A few years after they first grouped together, they get put on a mission to recover plates for printing 100 dollar bills used to print a billion dollars. After accomplishing the job, their commander gets killed in an explosion and as a result the A-Team gets court martialed. Each member gets sent to a separate prison but six months later a C.I.A agent (Patrick Wilson) comes to Hannibal to help him get his team back together and recover the stolen plates.

A re-make of the original show, The A-Team is an entertaining movie with a well-picked cast. The first time I saw this movie in theaters, I thought it was great. However, upon viewing this movie a second time months later, I felt that it was more of a three-star movie. The movie has an interesting plot line and there are some funny scenes in it (like when each A-Team member is breaking out of jail). This is the kind of movie where no improvements or edits could make it into a four-star movie. It's entertaining and I would recommend this movie to people who like the above actors, comedies, or don't know what to watch. Would I buy this movie?  Personally, I wouldn't but I would like to rent it again sometime.