Haywire [2012]
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Lem Dobbs
Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Angarano.
Haywire, the latest film by versatile director Steven Soderbergh, who gave us another high-profile movie with a big, talented cast, Contagion, just four months before, takes the story of Mallory Kane, a gorgeous Jason-Bourne-with-two-X-chromosomes and tells it with all the swagger of Ocean’s Eleven and all the ass-kicking and bone-shattering of the UFC.
Actresses like Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton and, more recently, Angelina Jolie, have successfully portrayed believable action heroines on the big screen. Is MMA star Gina Carano worthy of joining those women in the annals of film? Yes and no. Yes, because her fighting skills are indisputable, and a beautiful woman capable of choking a man to death will always be alluring (at least in fiction). No, because while all those actresses brought their beauty and ass-kickery, they also brought some degree of acting talent, something Carano, sadly, does not really possess (the robotic dubbing of her voice did not help matters).
Stylish almost to a fault, Haywire suffers from an all-too-common malady that plagues many films of today: almost all the effort went into the casting and not the story. Yes, the film’s many fights are stunning displays of great choreography and general badassery but all the characters, including Kane, are paper-thin and extremely underdeveloped. Without these to hold on to, whenever the fisticuffs cool down a bit, Haywire stops dead in its tracks.
I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff about this film and I’m actually more interested in Soderbergh than Carano. Soderbergh is so horribly hit-or-miss, but I still enjoy watching his work.
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Yes, you’re right. On the one hand, he’s responsible for Ocean’s Eleven, Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight. On the other, Ocean’s Twelve.
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Haha poor Ocean’s Twelve
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A decent film. I enjoyed it, but not essential Soderbergh. Contagion was a lot better.
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I agree.
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I actually found myself quite liking this one. I didn’t expect to but one of Soderbergh’s better recent efforts. Good review Fernando.
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Thanks Mark!
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Soderbergh has not had a great film since Oceans 11 and that was about 15 years ago. I liked the action scenes in this film. It was refreshing to see a female action star that looked like a strong wind would not blow her over.
What confused me about this film was, when I saw the huge cast of quality talent, I assumed they would be carrying Carano in the film due to her lack of cinematic experience. However, just the opposite happened and she carried the film and everyone else sort of mailed it in.
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I agree with everything you said.
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Yess! School’s out finally! That means summer (sorry if that wasn’t struck through; sometimes HTML doesn’t work well in comments) MOVIES GALORE before I start 9th grade!!!
Anyway…I do plan on watching Haywire this year. Hopefully this summer, as I’ll have a lot of time for movies (at least I hope!). Great review.
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Thanks! And yes, you should check it out. At least it’s very fun and the fights are amazing.
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I have to agree with sanclemente jedi, Carano did must of the heavy lifting in the film. Good review, especially this “a gorgeous Jason-Bourne-with-two-X-chromosomes and tells it with all the swagger of Ocean’s Eleven and all the ass-kicking and bone-shattering of the UFC.”
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Thanks, man! Appreciate it! Hoping to see more of you around here!
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