"The Gray Man" on Netflix: Ryan Gosling can be so brutal and mean

Ryan Gosling fans are already looking forward to his platinum blonde appearance in Barbie.

"The Gray Man" on Netflix: Ryan Gosling can be so brutal and mean

Ryan Gosling fans are already looking forward to his platinum blonde appearance in Barbie

Ryan Gosling is currently in charge of the live-action adaptation of Barbie

Court Gentry (Gosling) is recruited by Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) straight out of jail for the US secret service CIA and in the following years he is let loose on bad guys as the Sierra Six contract killer. His latest job takes him to Thailand, where he is supposed to kill another Sierra agent, he learns on the spot. He has collected a lot of compromising material against her boss, CIA operations manager Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), on a USB stick, the publication of which he naturally wants to prevent.

When Gentry gets hold of the stick, he becomes the hunted himself. Carmichael sends his bloodhound Llyod Hansen (Chris Evans) after him. He and his followers are not above themselves for any dirty and brutal job. Finally, in addition to Fitzroy, Hansen kidnaps his niece Claire (Julia Butters), who has grown very dear to Gentry over the years. From that moment on, he turns it up to free Claire from the sociopath's clutches and put a stop to the fraudulent handiwork of Charmichael. Oh yes, he also gets attractive support from CIA colleague Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) ...

"The Gray Man" is the most expensive Netflix production to date with a budget of 200 million dollars. The Marvel director brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, known among other things for their "Avengers" films "Infinity War" and "Endgame", spent the coal with full hands. Fast action scenes alternate with sensational explosions, in which half of Prague is sometimes reduced to rubble and ashes. If nobody fights and nothing explodes, there is a lot of talking. This slows down the already weak story again and again, makes the film jerk like a small car when braking hard.

It's a given that the women here, as is so often the case, are more of a decorative accessory. What is striking, however, is the overall extremely high level of attractiveness. It's hard to imagine that assassins and CIA agents in general are such good-looking people. Most of them - especially Gosling with his famous puppy eyes - you just don't buy their ruthlessness. If you want to see an attractive contract killer, you'd probably be better off with John Wick. Although Gosling does well in the choreographed action scenes, we already know that he can move thanks to "La La Land".

The plot and narrative structure, which are neither particularly daring nor remarkable, hardly stick. Incidentally, the film is based on the first installment in a bestselling series by author Mark Greaney entitled "The Gray Man - Codename Dead Eye". If everything in the film is moving a little too fast for you, you can read the story again. Of concern is the fact that there are eleven books in the series. A lot of money could be burned here in the future.

The Gray Man has been in select theaters since July 14th and will be available on Netflix from July 22nd.