Where do I begin with this one? Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this. It has the makings of a movie I should like. Good cast. Good director. Good trailer. I am an M.M.A. fan and love Gina Carano. I can't say that I dislike the move, but I can't say for sure that I liked it either. Confused? So am I.
Let's start with Steven Soderbergh. I was a huge fan of the Ocean's Franchise. They were fun,well written, and packed with stars. Soderbergh is one of the directors that the "Hollywood A-list" seems to always want to work with. He pulls together large ensemble casts and he does it again here. Even if they are only in the movie in small doses, it works.
Gina Carano is a female M.M.A. fighter and one of the best. The big question? Can she act? The answer is yes. She was not bad. Soderbergh did a great job by surrounding her with a good cast. I won 't say that she is up there with Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Aniston, or Sandra Bullock, but she is better than one would expect. She plays a great bad ass and because of her background all of her fights come across as believable.Let's come back to the fighting in a few. She looks good, but make no mistake she is a very muscular girl and cannot hide it.
Carano plays an ex marine/ private contracted "Black Ops Agent." Ewan Mcgregor is her ex boyfriend/ current boss and plays a really good weasle. Michael Douglas is the government rep that wants her for a job and Antonio Banderas is the partner of Ewan's character. Mcgregor asks her to do one final mission before quitting and she reluctantly agrees. As you can imagine things go wrong for her and they attempt to kill her.
It plays out a ot like the "Bourne Identity" minus the memory loss. Michael Fassbender (Magneto/Xmen First Class) play s the European Agent that she is set up with. The fight scene between them is pretty good and in my opinion he is not in the movie enough. There are rumors that they are looking at him as a Daniel Craig replacement in the James Bond Franchise. He would be an excellent choice.
Bill Paxton plays her ex-marine father and Channing Tatum is the fellow agent she has a fling with. It is nice to see him get his ass kicked during most of the movie. Maybe I just wanted some payback for the first G.I. Joe , but it was still entertaining. The mystery of whats going on is kind of fun, but not on the level of Ocean's or even Contraband. Carano does the best she can and if ever a live action Wonder Woman comes to be, Gina would be the perfect choice.
What Haywire lacks and where it disappoints is action. The trailer would say otherwise, but the sound needs amped during the fights. Soderbergh went for this "artsy" approach and I think that is where it fails. The car chase from inside the car doesn't work for me. The "caper" type music is horrible for this type of movie. Give me a driving rock or hip hop score and this movie easily get better. The cast is good. The story has it's moments, but overall I think Haywire fails to excite. It's not good. It's not bad. It's just OK.