Animal Rights Groups Criticize “The Grey”

The latest man vs. nature film to arrive in theaters is “The Grey,” directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson. While earning the number 1 spot at the box office over the weekend, the film has also managed to attract negative criticism from various animal rights groups.

As we also reported on a couple of previous occasions, “The Grey” tells the story of a group of men stranded in Alaska after their plane crashes.

Led by Liam Neeson's character, they decide to make their own luck and try to reach a safe place, once they realize rescue isn't coming for them.

Judging by the promo pictures and trailers released to promote the film, a big chunk of it is also dedicated to showing how the men deal with an even bigger danger: a pack of hungry wolves.

At one point, Liam's character is shown taking on the wolves with improvised boxing gloves “decorated” with broken glass. Understandably, that doesn't sit well with various animal rights groups, as AceShowbiz reports.

It's not just that the film depicts violence against animals that's an issue, the e-zine reports, but rather that it portrays wolves like some kind of monsters – which they are not.

PETA, for one, believes “The Grey” is stepping over the boundary with this portrayal.

“The writers paint a pack of wolves living in the Alaskan wilderness as bloodthirsty monsters, intent on killing every survivor of a plane crash by tearing each person limb from limb,” the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals writes in a statement.

As it happens, it's not the only group to believe the way the wolves are presented is damaging to the wolves.

“In reality, wild wolves are shy and elusive. A person in wolf country has a greater chance of being hit by lightning... than being injured by a wolf,” The Wolf Conservation Center also says.

WolfWatcher.org thinks that “The Grey” is very detrimental to wolves, so it's urging people to hand out fliers in theaters, asking them to boycott the film.

“This film comes out at the worst of times, when wolves are literally fighting for their lives,” the group says.

Director Joe Carnahan has already responded to allegations, telling all those who call for a boycott of the film to take the time to see it first – and criticize it afterwards.