By J.T. Johnson
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Michael Angarano
Photo courtesy of Relativity Media
Director Steven Soderbergh has done a wide range of films over his long career. He has made serious efforts with films such as “Traffic,” “Contagion” and “Erin Brockovich.” Soderbergh has also had a bit of fun with the hit remake “Ocean’s Eleven” and the quirky black comedy “The Informant.” So, it really comes as no shock that he would attempt to tackle a spy thriller.
That film is “Haywire” and like other Soderbergh films, it is a movie filled with several mega stars including Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas. The true star of the film is MMA fighter Gina Carano as the lead character who could easily go toe-to-toe with other heroes such as Jason Bourne. Unfortunately, the film’s light story ultimately wastes the talented ensemble.
“Haywire” starts off simple enough with Mallory Kane (Carano) sitting in a diner. It is obvious that she is hiding from someone and the light bruises hint that things have not gone exactly as planned. Soon after sitting down in a booth, she is visited by Aaron (Channing Tatum) and the two begin to share a coffee while Aaron complains about Mallory refusing to leave with him.
Then, in one of the many outbursts contained within the movie, Aaron and Mallory begin to beat the living crap out of each other. Mallory escapes with a young man named Scott (Michael Angarano) and she begins to tell the story to her bewildered car passenger.
Mallory worked for a freelance covert company headed by her handler and former lover, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) who sends her on various missions. On one of those missions, she is betrayed and must now find out what she can about all of the key players that now want her dead. The story of betrayal and revenge is nothing new and despite Soderbergh’s best efforts, the movie bores its audience to death.
This is not the only area where the film loses points. The biggest problem comes from Soderbergh’s attempts at making this movie something more than it actually is. This includes odd angles such as a car chase that almost takes place solely in the backseat of Scott’s car and the editing of the movie suggests that Soderbergh had rather wished he was the one who had filmed “Pulp Fiction.”
The timeline jumps all over the place and despite it being a simple story, the movie feels confusing and convoluted. “Haywire” would have actually benefitted from a more linear direction. Had the film started with Mallory’s betrayal and progressed in a normal fashion, then the movie would have actually been slightly better.
Now, there is one more decent aspect of the movie that should be discussed and that is the action. There is plenty of it and at first, it is awesome to see Mallory kicking butt and taking names. But then, as the film moves on and there is one fight after another, even the well choreographed fights come off as tedious and boring.
The flick’s running time is rather short at a little over 90 minutes. Even with the cut time, the film feels like it is just dragging on and on. Then, one realizes that there is no character development whatsoever. There is a vague back story such as Mallory being a former Marine, but no one really gets to know the character and ultimately does not care about what she is doing.
Granted, no one knew who Jason Bourne was in the amazing “Bourne” series, but since that character was an amnesiac, the audience felt like they were discovering things along with Bourne. Here, there is no such luck. Despite a strong cast and a good performance from Carano, this is one spy movie that audiences can skip.
PROS:
- Carano plays a strong female lead and gives a decent performance.
- There is a strong cast with heavy hitters such as Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas.
- The fights are very well choreographed and at first, they are quite engaging to watch.
CONS:
- But, there are also too many fights and eventually they just get downright boring.
- The simple narrative is jumbled around and therefore made way more complicated than it actually should be.
- The great cast and lead character are ultimately wasted with a story that does not seem to care when it comes to character development.
- Oh, and Channing Tatum is in it. He still sucks.
GRADE: D
