‘The Gray Man’ and Netflix’s Big Action-Movie Problem

Netflix has had a rough go of it lately, dropping $50 billion in market value in April when it divulged that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, and then announcing this week that it had bled an additional 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter—a hit that was actually cast in a positive light, since it was less than the streaming service’s own projections. All is not sunshine and roses at the 21st-century entertainment giant, although it’s aiming to turn things around beginning this weekend with The Gray Man, Joe and Anthony Russo’s spy-vs-spy saga in which Ryan Gosling’s rogue CIA agent does battle against Chris Evans’ sociopathic mercenary. The most expensive production in the company’s history (with a reported $200 million price tag), it’s Netflix’s biggest gamble to date on creating a genuine action blockbuster—and, with it, a lucrative franchise.

Netflix shouldn’t get their hopes up. Premiering online July 22 (following an earlier theatrical run), The Gray Man executes its mission with workmanlike competence but a frustrating lack of larger-than-life flair; its mayhem rarely pops in the way that crowd-pleasing events should, this despite a wealth of globe-trotting locales, enormous set pieces, and Chris Evans’ charismatically evil turn. Swinging for the fences, it winds up as a double rather than a home run, which makes it yet another Netflix action tentpole that falls short of greatness.

Over the past three years, the company has worked diligently to concoct a slam-bang sensation on par with Marvel’s reliable smashes (or a phenomenon such as Tom Cruise’s recent Top Gun: Maverick), only to come up with efforts that feel more like approximations than originals. For an industry titan that so frequently leads the way, Netflix has generally flopped hard when it comes to the most aggro of cinematic genres.

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