10 Movies That Were Totally Different To What Anyone Expected

9. The Grey (2011)

I doubt there was anybody who went to the theatre to see The Grey who wasn't expecting (or praying, even) for a movie that pitted newly-action aligned actor Liam Neeson against hordes of CGI wolves - that was, after all, what the marketing material duped us into thinking we were all going and paying money to see. So, no, The Grey wasn't really Liam Neeson vs. CGI wolves at all; I'll admit that I was genuinely disappointed when this thing cut to black the second before said wolf battle begins. What a tease.

The movie we actually got, though, was probably a better and far more intelligence one, closer to something that has a chance of standing the test of time when the future of our species looks back at all our dumb CGI movies and laughs. The Grey, then, emerged as a touching and primal survival movie, one that took a group of characters, dropped them into the icy chill of the Alaskan wilderness, and dared them to make it through to the end. It's gutsy - and often numbing - filmmaking, touching in places and ultimately a brilliant mediation on death itself. It may not have been the action spectacle we all wanted originally, but it sure made an impact.