Note: Because of a major snow/ice storm here in the Pacific Northwest my review for Haywire is a few days late. I wrote the review last week, minutes before the power went out.
Haywire/2012
Directed by: Steve Soderbergh
Starring: Gina Carano, Bill Paxton, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, and Michael Fassbender
The Film: A new year... a new assassin flick to kick the proceedings off with. Last year around this time the framed-killer movie was Simon West's The Mechanic. If it has ties with this year's first feature, (my first at least) Soderbergh's Haywire, they may only be located somewhere in the near future when Statham and Gina Carano inevitably do a film together - an Ecks vs. Sever if you will... but much more endurable.
Your first thoughts of Carano might be hot cro-magnon. Gina may have the eyes of a Ford supermodel, the forged brow-line of a professional fighter (in case you were wondering Carano is just that - formerly ranked third in the sport of women's MMA) and the deadliest pair of thighs since Tom Platz, but can Gina Carano hold her own in a major motion picture?
I think the key word here is motion - meaning she shines during mobility. She's a capable actress, one that can carry a scene with a bit of help from her less phisycally imposing thespian counterparts. Namely Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, and Channing Tatum - who, funny enough, finally finds his mark in this Steve Soderbergh flick.
The film's about a female contract agent double-crossed on a job who then must find out who screwed her over while trying to stay alive. You've seen this movie before, and all things being equal, have probably appreciated it for what it is. As a film frame-work it's an easy sell - just ask Jason Bourne.
As a movie Haywire works, though it's not really ever apparent why Steven Soderbergh chose to make a double-crossed killer movie in the first place. Is he a fan of these films? I can't believe that he is - Haywire's too controlled and aloof compared to its bloody bloodline. Most professional killer films are loud and obnoxious, to the contrary, Haywire's a handgun with a silencer screwed into it. There is violence - but it's never too noisy or too pretty. Thanks to Carano the film's punchy action set-pieces taste like the real thing. She brings a level of severity we don't usually find in the pampered movie star as a species. Carano looks like she could kill someone - and usually does just that.
I'm thinking Steve made this particular movie just so he could cast and work with a female prize fighter and thumb his nose at Hollywood convention one more time. You only need to look so far as movies like Friends With Benefits and Something Borrowed to realize why Steven Soderbergh has chosen to work with porn queens (The Girlfriend Experience) and professional cage fighters (Haywire) on his last few films - at least they're a turn-on.
This is the third collaboration between screenwriter Lem Dobbs and Steven Soderbergh. It's tough not to notice similarities in the final confrontation of this film - a beach and a twisted ankle - and the one in The Limey.
The Verdict: I wasn't the biggest fan of Contagion, it felt unnecessary and plain. Haywire might be unnecessary, but it's never plain. This is the first Steve Soderbergh film in a decade that I feel like I need to see again. I think Carano's got a future in this industry. I foresee filmmakers like James Cameron, Luc Besson, Justin Lin, and Sylvester Stallone bellying up to the center stage to pin fifties to Gina's G-string to entice the pretty pugilist into starring roles in one of their films. As an action starlet she's a rare property - tough beyond credibility, but credible.
Good stuff this.
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