Haywire - Trau' keinem

The problems with HAYWIRE can be laid firmly at the door of director Steven Soderbergh, who is entirely unsuited to directing what should be a pulse-pounding thriller. Soderbergh's light 'n' breezy, art-house-style direction is at odds with the kind of gritty, realistic, down 'n' dirty vibes he's aiming for here, and the result is an oddly unrewarding movie that goes through the motions, ticks all of the boxes, and yet fails to make any impact on the viewer whatsoever. Although it looks good, it turns out to be a hollow, slightly soulless exercise in movie-making.

The good thing about HAYWIRE are the martial arts scenes: they're very well filmed, highly exciting and utilise to full advantage the skills of real-life mixed martial arts fighter and lead Gina Carano. Having recently rewatched the BOURNE trilogy (in preparation for the upcoming BOURNE LEGACY), I can acknowledge they're the equal of anything in those movies. However, it's the long, slow passages in-between the action that really cause this film to stall. Soderbergh shoots them in his usual way, with jazzy music playing in the background and subdued, quick-fire dialogue, and while that worked in the likes of THE LIMEY and OCEAN'S ELEVEN, it just doesn't here.

The whole exercise feels artificial, and you get the impression that Soderbergh is trying too hard. There's no palpable tension, no sense of build-up, no suspense about what's going to happen to the protagonist. In fact, it's all rather boring, and you're left itching for the next fight scene to take place. Compare this with THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, in which I was on the edge of my seat during the non-action bits, caught up in an involved conspiracy storyline, unable to wait to find out what was going to happen next. HAYWIRE flatlines between the martial arts antics.

The script doesn't help; it's on the level of the average Seagal DTV actioner, and makes some truly odd decisions (like highly skilled/unbeatable agent Carano telling her life story in flashback to a random stranger throughout the course of the film – far better to have adopted a linear structure and just begun at the beginning instead of this wannabe clever-clever stuff). There are other pluses: the cast is faultless, and Soderbergh even elicits a rather effective performance from walking muscle Channing Tatum. But some of the seasoned performers are underutilised: Douglas, Banderas and Paxton are given little to work with, and Ewan McGregor is miscast in a wishy-washy role.

And the reason I give that advice is that you will have the opportunity to experience Soderberg again but I am not sure I can say the same for Carano.

This is of course a change of pace for Soderberg who is actually becoming known for his ability shape-shift between genres and do a pretty good job at each one he chooses.

This is an average spy thriller lifted to above-average by an A-List cast backed by Gina Carano in the action scenes.

Carano is the actual reason I wanted to review the film. She is a rarity in modern film, a good looking actress who shows not the slightest hesitation at going all JCVD on someone's butt if the script demands it.

And she is good. I mean there are multiple scenes here where she carries the attention of the viewer and it is hard to imagine another actress doing that as well.

The unfortunate part is that it seems no one in Hollywood wanted to accept the challenge of moving her career along even though it deserved to be moved. I watched her in IN THE BLOOD, a later effort framed as a B movie and lacking all the class and polish in this one.

Too bad. I miss her already.

Didn't expect much from this other than Soderbergh's involvement. The film has its flaws, but it is quite entertaining nevertheless. Gina Carano shines as she is truly an authentic protagonist .

Don't be put off by many of the poor reviews and generally low aggregated rating here. 'Haywire' is a solid action thriller, with good fight and action scenes, and good use of music, and solid direction. The pace moves along swifty and fits plenty in within the lean 93 minutes runtime. I'm not sure why so many people didn't like this enjoyable movie. To each either own, I suppose. But I think it's more than worth a watch.

Once again, I stepped into a movie with zero expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. People told me to avoid "Haywire" but I found it reasonably entertaining.

First off, I was amazed by the number of likable actors that are in the movie - Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton (where has he been hiding?) all star in co-roles. I don't know the main actress in the movie but she did a fine job, and apparently did all her own stunts.

Flick has been un-fairly compared to Angelina Jolies "Salt." Why? Because it stars a woman kicking guys ass's perhaps? I guess their plots are kind off similar too, but "Salt" was an over the top action movie. Outside of a couple of movie-style fights "Haywire" feels more realistic, but where it really succeeds is in its style. It works as a cool thriller that I found myself smiling at because off the way it tells its ex-assassin-getting-chased-again plot. Although maybe not everyone will give it a thumbs up, I will because I enjoyed it.