The Gray Man

Automatically rooting for a convicted murderer showing no signs of remorse might seem like a stretch, but The Gray Man doesn’t provide many alternatives.

Such ethical complexities are plowed aside in favor of globetrotting spectacle in this adrenaline-fueled espionage thriller from sibling directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame) which lacks the suspense and intrigue to match its slick technical bravado.

Setting your brain to autopilot enables you to better appreciate the showdowns between bad guys and worse guys, showcasing charismatic performances from Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, whose cutthroat adversaries seem to care about the outcome more than moviegoers will.

Gosling plays a long-term prisoner whose sentence is commuted by CIA official Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) in exchange for a lifetime commitment to a stealth team of black-ops assassins. Known only as Six, he’s given assignments with no context outside of his target and basic parameters.

Years later, he’s the only surviving Sierra member. Plus, he’s come into possession of a flash drive containing evidence of alleged corruption. That gives new hotshot CIA boss Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page), who is already phasing out Sierra, greater incentive to eliminate the resilient Six.

In desperation, Carmichael dispatches the mustachioed Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a disgraced ex-agent with no moral compass and a loose-cannon temper. “The last man to piss off Lloyd wound up floating in the Potomac,” Carmichael rationalizes.

Their subsequent cat-and-mouse involves Six seeking redemption by trying to protect Fitzroy’s young niece (Julia Butters) and reluctantly aligning with a mysterious agent (Ana de Armas) whose motives are unclear.

The convoluted screenplay, based on a book series by Mark Greaney, jumbles its chronology perhaps to disguise its derivative plot and inconsequential twists. Themes of sociopolitical betrayal and bureaucratic malfeasance aren’t explored with much depth or relevance.

However, The Gray Man is more about sensory overload. Using an array of visual effects and exotic locales, the Russos produce multiple highlights among the imaginative action set pieces, including a harrowing escape from a fiery plane as it’s disintegrating in mid-air.

A car-and-train chase through some crowded European streets provides some excitement, and the inevitable high-stakes final confrontation is likewise staged with visual flair.

Yet for all the explosions and violence and near-death escapes by our antihero, the film feels too detached from reality to make a deeper impact. There’s too much black and white, and not enough gray.

Rated PG-13, 122 minutes.