Release Date: 1/20/2012
Haywire, directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion), is an action thriller starring MMA superstar Gina Carano. It’s a fast paced thrill ride filled with fist-pounding fight scenes, pulse-pounding chases and is visually soaked with Soderbergh’s signature look. It’s a story that isn’t anything new, with an inexperienced newcomer carrying us the whole way. It could of ended up being another generic thriller, but Soderbergh keeps it fresh with his unique style of filmmaking as he doubles as Director of Photography and with the assist from a stellar supporting cast, Haywire beats the odds of the typical January thriller and makes for an entertaining night at the theater.
Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. We first see her at a diner where one of her coworkers insists she turns herself in. We later find out through flashbacks that after successfully freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage, she was double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Suddenly she is the target of the skilled assassins who know her every move, as Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive.
Haywire starts out with a bang, with a fight scene in a diner that shows us that this isn’t going to be your typical action thriller. This fight is executed very well, giving us more static shots than the usual quick “Bourne” cuts where it’s almost impossible to follow. This was an interesting choice for Soderbergh because it’s very difficult to create realistic choreographed fights like this, but for the most part he implements them very well. After the diner fight we get some back-story and then we get another fast-paced action scene, with an awesome chase scene/shoot out through the streets. This becomes the norm for the rest of the picture, a little back-story and then a lot of action.
Especially notable is a very long hotel fight scene that was definitely the highlight of the film. The story works for the most part until we get to where it picks up in real time about an hour in. From here on out the movie starts to fall a little flat, and I must say that Soderbergh’s execution and Carano’s acting start to become a problem, especially in a painfully slow and sloppy fight scene in the sand. The last half hour was a little disappointing to say the least but not enough to where I disliked the film as a whole.
Newcomer to the acting world, MMA fighter Gina Carano, was as stiff as a board, good thing that she broke that board with her face. Her fight scenes were amazing, as she showed that she knows how to throw a punch and choke a motherfucker out. The scenes where she needed to deliver important dialogue or show a natural reaction, not so great. Soderburgh doesn’t ask much from her in the acting department a la Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience, but still being the lead of a film there were scenes where she needed to deliver, and didn’t. The supporting cast may be why Carano looked so stale, they are all either seasoned veterans or breakout superstars. Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton and even Channing Tatum were decent in their limited screen time. Michael Fassbender continues to flex his acting muscles in another scene stealing performance. He plays a shady MI6 agent and just scenes where he’s taking a drag of a cigarette or downing a glass of Guinness, he shows a defined skill to his craft. It’s almost a shame that they chose him to play that part because he casts such a huge shadow of talent over the amateur Carano.
Overall, Haywire gets your attention quick with a fast pace and some well-executed, entertaining, action. It exceeds expectations as a January thriller, but in comparison to some of Soderbergh’s other great pieces of work, it falls to the middle of the road.
IMDB: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Movie Wiseguys: 7/10