In the review of Grey’s – Guy Ritchie who was mysteriously buried takes action and explodes | Guy Ritchie

WAlthough the actual quality doesn’t scare him enough to float him above three stars, I’ve developed a strange fascination for Guy Ritchie’s latest films. Are you serious (The Wrath of Man), empty (Operation Fortune) or somewhere between the two (Ministry of Children’s Wars), there’s been a real sense of humor to them, which is often missing from other recent films of the ilk. Ritchie has more money in B-movie productions than most of his peers and has a passion for the way they move, each one looking, feeling and sounding like the movies they really love.

If only the audience, and the companies releasing them, felt the same way. While Wrath of Man, Jason Statham’s best-selling revenge thriller with more grit than expected, managed to make enough money overseas, it struggled to justify its bigger budget. Operation Fortune was remade, remarketed and pushed around before the series failed at the box office (it went flat in most countries) with Ministry of War not even being able to recoup half of its budget after another release. This may continue with his latest In Grey, another successful action thriller that was remade in 2023, bought and sold by Lionsgate before returning three times, the film now going to the weekend (In Red would probably be more appropriate). The most surprising thing here is that even the critics were kept this time without press screenings (I paid for the ticket), which means that even three reliable stars cannot reach this.

But, against all odds, In the Gray may be Ritchie’s most entertaining film in years. Of course, it’s confusing at times (one can feel a long night in the transitions especially at the end) and makes some people feel unwise, but it’s also a very fun, unchanging time. Ritchie allows both the actors and the audience to be free without letting themselves lose control, safe hands in a time when the action is being controlled by those who don’t seem to know what they are doing. He also avoids a lot of dirty, “what just happened” humor that has ruined many other films of the cursed period and I was surprised by how it is done, not Wrath of Man serious, but enough to show what is at stake and why we should be careful, living pieces or merciless deaths. His dealer may not be all he’s ever invested in, but Ritchie certainly is.

It’s his first writing credit since 2019’s The Gentleman and it’s based on a good, unconventional character. Rachel (Eiza González, reuniting with Ritchie after The Service) is a lawyer tasked with trying to recover unpaid debts from dangerous people, working on behalf of a similarly shady financial company. His latest target Salazar (Carlos Bardem) owes $1bn and has already sent the last lawyer who tried to get him back Bobby (Rosamund Pike, who ruined his few appearances). He brings his boys, Sid and Bronco (Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal), who provide both brawn and brains to devise a plan to protect him after making a private deal. It is escape that they are worried about, and with a group of other good-looking, newbies, they are drawing different routes from Salazar Island. At the same time, Rachel must use her legal skills to force him to make contracts.

Ritchie may be too busy with his heavy visuals – the plans and locations and recipes of the store are all mixed with computer voiceovers – but I can’t say that I had the faintest but vivid thoughts of watching González prepare a stovetop negroni svegliato (!). There’s such an obvious joy in what Ritchie is doing – going all out for something as lost as this – that it’s hard not to feel it anymore.

His film is a tightly-edited game and every moving part is as entertaining as the next, whether it’s González hanging out with Pike (the pair trained well in the 2020 comedy I Care a Lot) or Gyllenhaal and Cavill enjoying their boys-with-their-toys antics. Ritchie’s films have been playing for a long time and here, the magic and the unpredictable exchange between the two men are not played for the sake of gay humor, they have all the intentions and play gay people (the words “men are used with any words about lube or sex in prison, there is also a serious show). They also call their female lead “mother”, the shiny González who has a lot of heat in his scenes with Pike.

Ritchie, as one would expect, is a master at creating chaos and what he does, along with an additional, chair-shaking performance from Christopher Benstead, are all a joy to watch. Suspension of disbelief is also required to make our leads seem powerful, while still being role models, but I was too busy to care.

The ending is at first satisfying and then a little abrupt, taking us out of summer, the dust the film was gathering on the shelf suddenly entering our eyes. But that bittersweet cliché isn’t enough to detract from what could be one of the season’s most entertaining episodes. I dread the day when Ritchie stops getting the money to buy his zippy and sleazy but poorly maintained and unsightly crime scenes but for now, with two more in the bucket, I’ll happily sit out the time the checks are still being written.