The Grey

I'm not sure when Liam Neeson became a badass, action hero type.  I checked IMDB and I think badass Neesan begins in Batman Begins.  After that, it's Taken and more badassary.  Prior to that, he seemed to play milder mannered characters.  I liked him in Kinsey and.... wait a minute... he played Darkman in 1990... nevermind. 

Maybe Neeson was always a badass but never thought of as a badass so in the last 10 years he chose roles where his badassary was more blatant and in your face.  Does that happen to actors as they age?  Look at Ralph Fiennes.  My image of him was a poncy annoyance on screen (though not as poncy or annoying as Joseph Fiennes).  Ralph was ridiculous as Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon (which was a bad remake - even though the ending was truer to the Thomas Harris novel - of Manhunter).  Tom Noonan was awesome as Dolarhyde.  Fiennes was a joke.

That said, Fiennes was pretty badass in In Bruges (which I really liked).  My point is that as these actors age they seem to want an edge, an image beyond nice guy.  Or, like Bruce Willis, they can't let go.  Could it be that they're just pissed that they're ageing?  Shit, I'm pissed that I'm ageing, too.

Liam Neeson is 60 years old.  In Grey, he's another tough guy and like every aging tough guy movie, he's likely ex-military, ex-CIA, ex-assassin or all of the above. I'm not sure if he looks 60 or not, but he looks to be in good shape and he leads a group of plane crash survivors on a journey to survival. 

Unlike other movies where the plane crashes in an arctic wilderness, it doesn't look like these guys are going to eat each other - thankfully.  So, what challenges will these he-men face while walking in the snow to safety? Wolves.  Yes, wolves.  Big, mean, and clearly hungry, wolves.

Dermot Mulroney is also in this movie, though I didn't recognize him in the trailer.  I've only seen him in a few movies that the wife "suggested" I view with her.  I find him really dull.  He lacks leading man presence and frankly, I don't think he's that good an actor.  Maybe he'll get eaten by a wolf.

So, Grey is the story of a pack of men vs. a pack of wolves.  I think I'll see it, but I hope the wolves win.