Skip to main content

Haywire

Starring:  Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, and Michael Douglas
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay by: Lem Dobbs

    It seems like if Steven Soderberg forgot to cast anybody in Contagion from a few months back, they got their chances to shine now in Haywire.
    Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), a black ops soldier, wants payback after being betrayed by the people who trained and employ her.  In order to trap her, a mission must go wrong and a trap needs to be set up for her to fall into.  The mission goes wrong and the trap is set up, but she escapes, sending everyone on a manhunt for her.  Mixed in with about a million tiny details, this is one thrilling story.
    While it may be exciting and entertaining, not everything is explained very well.  For example, why do they want to trap Mallory in the first place?  What got her into this whole mess?  This is not explained.  There are quite a few plot holes such as this one.  It's also hard to figure out who's who in the beginning, especially since about half of the story is told in flashback.
     Some of Soderbergh's other works such as Contagion, do not necessarily have one main character or focus on one character in particular.  That's not the case with Haywire at all.  It's something I was expecting to see, but didn't happen.  Mallory is clearly the main character of this film, with some emphasis on a few other characters.
      Gina Carano is a Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and fits the role perfectly for Mallory Kane.  There aren't a whole lot of fight scenes.  However, these fight scenes are intense.  There's lots happening in each fight sequence which is usually only a few seconds.  Honestly, it's kind of fun to see a woman beating the crap out of a bunch of tough guys.
      The trailers might suggest this to be a rather violent and bloody film.  It really isn't that blood and not terribly violent at all.  This makes me wonder then, why does it have an R rating?  It would be better rated as PG-13.  This is definitely an entertaining movie, and you'll probably need to see it two or three times to really understand the story.  There's just a whole lot of stuff happening in each scene and the film moves at a very rapid pace.  However, it's not worth paying to see it two or three times.  If you're going to see it in theaters, my advice is to just pay for it once, and wait until it comes out on DVD.
      I'm making Haywire go haywire with a C+.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Hunger Games

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth Directed by: Gary Ross Screenplay by: Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins      If reality television hasn't gone too far yet, then this show should definitely make it go too far.      In a futuristic nation called Panem, one boy and one girl are selected from each of the nation's twelve districts to represent them in an annual television event called the Hunger Games.  Of the 24 contestants, only one will survive in this televised fight to the death.      I like the concept of the story.  While this futuristic society seems somewhat simple, it does not seem all that well developed.  It is unknown how this society came into being, even though it is known how the Hunger Games began.      If this film were released last year, I would have hoped it would be nominated for best make-up.  Many of the characters ...

Sanctum

Starring: Rhys Wakefield, Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, and Alice Parkinson Directed by: Alister Grierson Screenplay by: John Garvin and Andrew Wight      "Where else can you shine a light in a place that no one's ever seen before?"  Is it a good idea to explore unexplored parts of a cave right before a storm?  Probably not, but for these guys, it's only the beginning.      When a cave diving team faces life threatening circumstances while exploring the least accessible and least explored cave system in the world, how do they get out?  As they move through the cave, less and less of them make it out alive.  How do they choose who lives and who dies?  And what sacrifices are they going to have to make in order to get out of the cave alive?  And lastly, will they make it?      The actors do a fine job in their roles.  It's interesting to see how they interact with the decisions they have to make in or...

"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"

Starring Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Ellen Wong, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" is a trippy, action packed popcorn flick with a heroic and comic aspect. It takes place during the present day in one of my favorite cities, Toronto, Canada. Initially, Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is a 22 year old unemployed guy from Toronto living with his friend because he doesn't have enough money for a place of his own. He's dating a 17 year old high schooler named Knives Chau (Wong). Nobody is really sure how to react to this so his band mates all say he's got a fake girlfriend. While at a party one night, he sees Ramona Flowers (Winstead), a girl who just moved to Toronto from New York and works for Amazon.ca and tries to say something to her but his nervousness gets the best of him. He orders a package from Amazon and she delivers it to him and it's at his doorstep that he gets the idea to ask her out. Scott's band is playing ...