With Netflix releasing their most expensive film to date,The Gray Manoffers audiences a thrilling set of action set pieces involving some of Hollywood’s greatest talents. The film features Chris Evans facing off against Ryan Gosling, with guns, explosions, anda promise of sequels and spinoffsto turnThe Gray Maninto aNetflixfranchise.
The Gray Manfollows the story of Ryan Gosling’s character, a man with no real name, and a CIA asset. Audiences watch as this character unveils agency secrets that start a global manhunt, leading former employers to send Chris Evan’s deadly assassin to hunt him down. It’s a film premise that works, with many films before it being able to scratch the itch thatThe Gray Manleft behind.
9Blade Runner 2049
If audiences are looking to get more of Ryan Gosling in an action role, thenBlade Runner 2049is the perfect film. From director Denis Villeneuve, comes a beautiful cinematic experience. Visually and audibly,Blade Runner 2049is a great movie. Gosling proves himself as a great action star, with a great weight of emotional range.
The film follows Officer K, a replicant who was built for and works as an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department in a dystopian future. K soon finds a secret that could create chaos and sends doubts about his own identity. This mystery takes many leaps and leads K to Rick Deckard, the famed Blade Runner of the first film.
8Heat
A dangerous game of cat-and-mouse is always exhilarating, and something featured prominently inThe Gray Man. With 1995’sHeat, fans can experience a similar thrill with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The two actors, veterans of the field, play wonderfully as a criminal mastermind itching for a final score, against a police lieutenant who is hot on his tail.
Heatfeatures a variety of emotions, intrigue, vulnerability, and action. It’s a tense ride throughout and has some great scenes for audiences to enjoy. Fans ofThe Gray Manwill enjoyHeat, as it’s a classic thriller film that has the viewersubconsciously rooting for both sides.
7The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Identityis the beginning of theBournefilm series. It is regarded as one of the more iconic action-thrillers of film history. Starring Matt Damon, Bourne is rescued from the ocean with no clear indication of who he is. As a John Doe, he discovers that he has a set of skills that enable him to survive against the hunters that seek his demise.
It’s a great thriller, thatleaves audiences asking questionsabout identity of this character, and what makes him so dangerous to the government that is trying to kill him. It’s a great mystery, and one that unravels throughout three films.
6Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has enjoyed success both critically and commercially for well over ten years now.Captain America: The Winter Soldieris Marvel Studios’ attempt at something more serious, with a paranoid, political thriller leading Captain America and Black Widow in an act of war against SHIELD.
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Fans ofThe Gray Manwill enjoy this film, even if they have not been keeping up to date with the MCU. It holds asimilar style toThe Gray Man, thanks to the directors being the same as Anthony and Joe Russo. There’s a great deal of suspense and action that blurs the lines of what a classic hero and villain are, with many deeper themes throughout.
5Face/Off
Another twisted game of cat-and-mouse involves John Travolta and Nicolas Cage as they attempt to play each other in this tense thriller. FBI Agent Sean Archer has spent a lot of years hunting the crazed terrorist Castor Troy, andFace/Offsees both men undergoing facial surgeries to assume the identity of each other to finish their fight once and for all.
There’s a great deal of action inFace/Off, and the hunting of the two characters, assuming both identities, is a great twist on the thriller setting.The Gray Manfans might recognize some influences, in the way the two characters interact and have choreographed fights.
4Skyfall
As a standout spy movie,Skyfallseems to be the best instance of aJames Bondfilm involving a gritty plot, and a political landscape that makes the audience question who deserves to win.Skyfallfeatures another outing for Daniel Craig as James Bond, and a great villain in Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva.
The film easily scratches that espionage and action itch thatThe Gray Manleft audiences with. There are some great set pieces for the film, which even feature the London Underground on a collision course. The film truly pushes James Bond to his limits, and to see a spy as famed as Bond so rusty and out of his depth, makes for a thrilling experience.
3The Nice Guys
A rather different genre toThe Gray Man,The Nice Guysstill offers audiences a fun experience. As an action-comedy,The Nice Guysis thoroughly entertaining. The film is set in the late 70s and follows the story of a private detective and an enforcer who team up to figure out the whereabouts of a young girl who has disappeared.
What makes the film great is the cast of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. The duo has great chemistry, and the film leans into the buddy comedies of old. Ryan Gosling is a lot of fun as a screaming and incompetent private detective. It’s a far cry from his role inThe Gray Man.
2Extraction
Netflix produced another big-budget action flick with 2020’sExtraction. The film is set to rouse audiences with the sequel,Extraction 2. The Russo Brothers were involved in the story forExtraction, the same two that directedThe Gray Man. WatchingExtractionwill remind audiences of their capabilities for a gritty story, which involves Chris Hemsworth as a black-market mercenary on a mission to save an Indian drug lord’s son.
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There’s a great deal of spectacle on the action front when it comes toExtraction, making for a fun and casual viewing experience for those that want a great verse in action. Watching Hemsworth in a role like this is vastly different to Thor the God of Thunder,just like Chris Evansis different in his tenure as Captain America.
1John Wick 2
No action will quite hit like that of aJohn Wickfilm. The franchise features Keanu Reeve’s titular character embarking on a quest for Rome, to battle against some of the deadliest killers that the world has to offer. There’s plenty of action, thrills, and suspense as John Wick tries to regain a sense of a normal life, all whilst the world seems to want him dead.
No man can be as terrifying and committed as John Wick when there’s a task to accomplish. The film features the character alone, with nothing but his set of skills to help him survive. With a bounty on his head, John Wick explores the many fun and choreographed ways the character can kill another.
