Steven Soderbergh developed Haywire as an excuse to showcase the talents of Gina Carano, a professional mixed martial artist that Soderbergh caught on tv. Boy does it succeed. Carano is a revelation as Mallory, a military contractor and serious asskicker. Her limited acting range matters little when she's viciously beating Michael Fassbinder or Channing Tatum into submission. Indeed, I left wanting to see a whole lot more of Carano.
The plot is fairly standard- someone has set up Mallory, framing her for murder. She needs to hunt down her former colleagues and discover why. While in most films, this is simply an excuse to go from fight A to fight B, Haywire takes its plot seriously. Too seriously. After an exciting fifteen minutes or so, the film forgets that it's an action movie, focusing instead on a boring and rote plot. Carano is able to get a couple more fights in, and a great escape sequence, but the film simply doesn't live up to the promise of the first few minutes.
Soderbergh directs with his traditional stylistic flair. Haywire features the best score I've heard in a film for some time. Each location in this globetrotting spy flick has its own color scheme, similar to his earlier film, Traffic. There's one really good stylized action sequence near the beginning of the film, but for the most part, when the action's going, Soderbergh lets it flow.
After a disappointing final showdown, Haywire ends. Yes, Gina Carano is an incredible action star. Yet you would think that in a film designed to show her skill, we would spend more time watching her do what she does best. I hope Carano finds a director willing to do that.
3.5 out of 5 stars
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