Where to begin? I wish I could say I was bowled over as I had such high expectations. But alas, not quite.
It wasn’t bad per say, just lacking in terms of direction. To sum it up, they were trying to be clever, but they couldn’t pull it off. Maybe, in fact, I know if it had just being a straight forward action film, with no twist and turns, Haywire would have been phenomenal.
With the likes of Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum and the rising star of Michael Fassbender, you’d think Steven Soderbergh would have delivered something exceptional.
Anways, Haywire is a pretty good title and does sum it up in one go. Gina Carano’s Mallory Kane is a black ops super soldier, who’s betrayed by her employers.
Mallory works as part of an Independent contractor, under the supervision of Ewan McGregor’s Kenneth who also happens to be a former lover. Ironically, she’s in demand by her own Government. Michael Douglas plays the shady government type. Antonio Banderas is part of this hiring in some way too.
Her team, including Channing Tatum is tasked to retrieve a hostage. Everything goes swimmingly and Mallory returns home, job well done.
Then she’s asked by creepy Kenneth to go on a mission to Dublin
I must say, it takes an awfully cool person to make me cheer on someone who kicks Fassbender around like that (I’ve been following him for the better part of ten years). And he does get smacked around quite a bit… and then killed (he started it!). And that is the start of Mallory’s headache. Because she’s framed for a number of killings – most of them in self-defence.
This would’ve been the perfect time for a continuous display of her action prowess. Because to put it frankly, she’s quite awesome. A perfect opportunity missed.
Her kidnapping of her knight in shining armour though, provides some amusement (Michael Angarano – remember him from Sky High?). Though in the end, it really wasn’t necessary.
Michael Douglas seems to be playing both sides. No one’s quite sure which side he’s on until the end. Like most Government officials, he’s on his own side.
Antonio Banderas confused me. Though he did make for an excellent sleezebag.
Channing Tatum in my opinion, was just man-candy, though he did have a cool action scene with Gina Carano.
And Bill Paxton was adequate as Mallory’s father. Another missed opportunity for fleshing out an important character.
Now for Carano. She’s not a bad actress, not bad to look at either. And it’s really not her fault her talents weren’t utilised constructively. Perhaps if Sylvester Stallone had directed… Obviously, he knows the action business better than anyone. And he’s proved to be quite competent in his field. I know one thing, he would’ve definitely delivered a better ending. One that didn’t look like it was shot in five minutes.
Either way, Carano is an action star to look forward to. She not only looks the part, but delivers. A rarity… can you think of a woman on the same level as the likes of Sly himself, Schwarzenegger or Jason Statham? That looks good too?
How about a part for her in Expendable 3?
One last thing. It was nice to see J.J. Perry again. I recognised his work (he’s the fight choreographer), but unfortunately after 14 years of not seeing him anywhere, did not recognise him in his fleeting combat scene. One can only fantasise about what could happen if he went up against Carano in a less restrained environment. Total Carnage!
By the way, if you’re wondering why I’m focusing on the fight choreographer, it’s because he's awesome… and he was Sub Zero in Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
So folks, to conclude. The fight scenes were awesome. The film was a little confusing. Gina Carano could kill you with that death stare of hers and wait for a t.v. showing of this.
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