Haywire Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 01.22.2012

A mundane but watchable action yarn featuring a badass new action movie star. Welcome, Gina Carano.

Haywire Review

Gina Carano- Mallory Kane
Michael Angarano- Scott
Channing Tatum- Aaron
Ewan McGregor- Kenneth
Michael Douglas- Coblenz
Antonio Banderas- Rodrigo
Michael Fassbender- Paul
Mathieu Kassovitz- Studer
Bill Paxton- Mr. Kane

Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay by Lem Dobbs

Distributed by Relativity Media

Rated R for violence
Runtime- 93 minutes

Website: http://www.haywiremovie.com/



The biggest problem with Haywire, an action flick directed by the Steven Soderbergh and a screenplay by Lem Dobbs, is that it's a little too "classy" for its own good. While featuring a fine lead performance by newcomer Gina Carano and some well staged fight scenes, the movie tries too hard to be different and engages in that dreaded "elevating the genre" crapola that grievously harms so many genre movies. And the all-star cast that Soderbergh assembles to support Carano actually hinders the movie more than it helps. The movie is watchable, it's just not as good as it could be or, really, as it should be.

The flick is all about Carano's Mallory Kane, a bad ass ex-Marine turned private contractor/mercenary that ends up on the run after a "botched" mission in Dublin. She can't trust anyone, not her employer/ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), not Coblenz (Michael Douglas), an American government official that has a relationship with Kenneth, or Aaron (Channing Tatum), a fellow merc that she had sex with while on a job. The only person she can trust is her father, an ex-Marine turned famous military fiction writer played by Bill Paxton. Now, the movie starts out as a series of a flashbacks told by Mallory, after a hellacious fight in an upstate New York diner with Aaron, to Scott (Michael Angarano), a young guy that tries to help her in the diner (she carjacks him for his trouble. She's very nice about it, though). Once the flashbacks are over (we see what happens in Barcelona and Dublin), the movie shifts into Mallory tracking down the people that want her dead and, well, trying to kill them. The movie really isn't well served by the flashback structure, as the mystery at the heart of the flashbacks isn't all that interesting, but it does help set up the possibility of Mallory trusting someone else besides her father, so in that sense that decision makes a kind of sense. I don't quite understand why it's so important to establish that, but I think I understand why Soderbergh and company did it. I think I do.

The actual flashback segments, where we see what happens in Barcelona and Dublin, are interesting as their own little movies. Each one starts out slow and incrementally builds to a big action moment. There's a great "snatch and grab" sequence in Barcelona that features Mallory chasing down a bad guy in what seems like real time. And there's a great fight scene in a hotel room in Dublin and a well staged police chase over rooftops. Almost every action scene in the movie is shown in long, interrupted sequences with minimal cutting, something you rarely see now in action movies big and small. It's fun to see a brutal fight start up and progress to its eventual nasty conclusion and see everything involved in it. However, while the slow build to the fight is appreciated, the stuff that exists in those slow builds is lifeless, and the segments don't quite work as a cohesive unit. You never really get a sense of there being anything at stake, and even when you know what it is the characters are supposed to be doing in a scene you have no idea why it's important. When Mallory has revenge on her mind and she's pursuing people the movie's energy picks up a little but not enough to make you stop wondering about what exactly is going on. Why should I care about these people and whatever it is that's going on? The movie never really figures that out.



Carano does a great job as Mallory. While she doesn't really act, she has enough screen presence and general charisma to be a star. She's also a complete and genuine badass in the action and fight scenes. There is absolutely no question in the world that she's the most dangerous person living and that, if she wants to, can kill you in a heartbeat. You never doubt her for a second. Soderbergh did the movie world a great favor getting her into a movie. Hopefully, Haywire isn't the last time she gets the chance to kick ass on the silver screen.

The rest of the cast, as I said at the beginning, is almost a detriment to the movie as all of the major stars come off as sleepwalking through their parts. I'd imagine that everyone's performance is so dang low-key by design since the movie as a whole is low-key and Soderbergh doesn't want anyone to overshadow newcomer Carano. Ewan McGregor, as Kenneth, appears as though he's taking Valium intravenously at all times (or he's combating a raging migraine by trying to not get too excited about anything. Just stay mellow and maybe it'll pass). Kenneth, while negotiating mercenary prices with Douglas' Coblenz, is meant to be kind of funny while rattling off prices and contract rules but it comes off as just plain weird. Douglas' Coblenz should be much sleazier as a government bureaucrat but he's really just a guy with a trench coat, some agents to protect him, and a secretary. Why is that interesting? Channing Tatum's Aaron is another bland guy that, while big, isn't as badass as he should be (I'll explain the "big" thing in a moment). And Michael Fassbender, as Paul, is just ridiculous (just wait a second. I'll get to it). The only people that get to "express" themselves are Antonio Banderas as the somewhat mysterious and sleazy Rodrigo (we have to wait until the end of the movie to experience that but it's there); Michael Angarano as Scott the young guy (he gets to be bewildered and a medic, sewing up Mallory's arm wound while she drives. Fun stuff indeed) and Mathieu Kassovitz as Studer, a rich piece of garbage that may turn out to be more evil than originally thought (perhaps he'll be the focus of the sequel if one ever happens. He has the look to pull it off). As for poor Bill Paxton, he just sort of shows up as Mallory's father and acts as a kind of diversion for a few minutes. He doesn't even get a chance to raise his voice. It's a damn pity.

Now, onto the "big" thing. At no point in the movie does anyone come off as a threat to Mallory except Tatum's Aaron, which is a big problem if she's supposed to be in danger throughout the movie. When she dismantles Aaron in the opening scene, any sense of peril is thrown out the window with the rest of the cast. Michael Douglas comes off as old and feeble, Fassbender and McGregor aren't the least bit intimidating, and Banderas is, for the lack of a better word, unprepared for physical confrontation. And since no one is allowed to exert himself, they're all just sort of in the movie. Where's the menace? Where's the challenge?

Haywire isn't exactly a failure, but it's not the movie it needs to be. I didn't hate it; it's, as I said at the beginning, watchable, but you get the sense after about half-an-hour that, with a little less "class" Steven Soderbergh might have had a little action classic on his hands (like David Mamet's Spartan). Instead, Haywire is a mundane drama filled with bursts of tension and well staged action. It needs more of the latter, and much, much less of the former. At least we got a new star out of it. Welcome to the movie world, Gina Carano. Hopefully you get to stick around for a little while. Good things are in your future.

It isn't a must see, but Haywire is worth checking out if you don't have anything else going on. So, yeah, you can check it out.



So what do we have here?

Dead bodies: Around 10.

Explosions: None. Not even one.

Nudity?: None.

Doobage: Tea drinking, hot coffee to the face, a serious diner beat down, carafe to the head, gun stealing, car stealing, arm repair, tight tape and gauze, serious fee structure negotiations, a cool jazz soundtrack, door breach, some machine gun hooey, a long foot chase, tray of silverware to the face, flying platter to the back, elbow to the face, storage locker door to the chest, wine and guns, some low level making out, apartment decorating, cell phone espionage, dress zipping, a brutal hotel room fight, vase to the head, attempted knife attack, TV smashing, some very nice thighs, a pillow silencer, a nice shower, another foot chase, mobile phone buying, obstacle making, rooftop jumping, door smashing, a vicious kick to the head, sweatshirt stealing, water drinking, a random road check, impromptu off road driving, driving in reverse, deer hitting, handcuff trickery, a bunch of dead cops, call tracing, off screen beat downs, bullet to the gut, a brutal beach beat down, ankle breaking, a flashback that allegedly explains everything, cigar smoking, and a lame ending.


Kim Richards?: None.


Gratuitous: Upstate New York, Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, fighting in a diner, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, discussion of fee structures, Barcelona, Gina Carano running, wine and guns, San Diego, Michael Fassbender, guns under the mattress, stuff in a barn, a brutal hotel fight, some very nice thighs, a pillow silencer, Dublin, Gina Carano running through a Burger King, water drinking, New York State troopers, deer hitting, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum acting while wearing a cast, Mexico, a hellacious fight on a beach, and a lame ending.


Best lines: "Shit," "What the hell are you doing out here?," "Scott, thank you," "There's no smoking in here," "I don't like loose ends," "You think you know me? Oh, I know you," "MI6 wants me to be eye candy?," "Well, you look fantastic. Can you zip me?," "Not your natural habitat, is it?," "There's some water in my backpack. Have some," "I just got this car, like, a week ago," "Jesus Christ, you are a great driver," "Should we run? No, we've done enough," "Surrender now if you want to live," "Do we need to have a conversation about Barcelona?," "You better run," "I'm trying to focus on my breathing," "One friend's not a lot," "The motive is money. The motive is always money," "I've never done a woman before. You shouldn't think of her as a woman. That would be a mistake," and "Shit."

The 411: Haywire isn't an exciting action movie, but it has its moments, and it features a great find in Gina Carano. Hopefully she gets more action movie work in the future because she's awesome. The rest of the movie is sort of blah. It's watchable, but it's nothing special. The music is pretty decent, though. Good job, David Holmes.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]