Haywire

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Moosey, Aug 5, 2012.

  1. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    Review of "Haywire"

    A fairly high-profile American action thriller, Haywire was directed by Steven Soderbergh (of "Ocean's 11" fame) and designed to showcase the talents of female MMA athlete Gina Carano. Backing up Carano are a host of big name actors, including Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender.

    Unfortunately, Carano is neither a particularly good actress or a telegenic screen fighter and the storyline is revealed only through sequences of exposition which clarify an otherwise muddled series of events.

    Perhaps more surprisingly, none of the more experienced actors turn in particularly great performances. Michael Douglas has an easy ride for his 5 minutes of screen time, playing a slick government officer with little to do but play slick in the way that Douglas has done for his whole later career. McGregor does an unconvincing American accent and seems too lightweight to be a real threat, and Fassbender dials in his default lizardish, Charles-Dance-wannabe character. Even Antonio Banderas (looking exceptionally like Saddam Hussein), doesn't get to have his usual amount of fun with his shadowy character.

    That only leaves Gina Carano to carry the film and she settles for a permanent half-smirk and slightly wooden delivery.

    Of course, none of this would be too important if the action was up to scratch, but there's really very little fighting and, while the fights are nicely realistic and have some real impact, they do little to showcase why it was important to hire a professional martial artist for the lead role. Apart from the occasional arm bar, there was little technical flash or visual spectacle. If anything, Donnie Yen has done a better job of introducing MMA-style techniques into his martial arts movies and, although Gina Carano thankfully preens and pouts much less than Donnie Yen, Yen has the screen fighting experience that allows him to really showcase the martial arts that attract people to such films.

    Fighting aside, Carano runs a lot from place to place, but never with a great deal of urgency.

    All in all, an enjoyable enough B-movie, but lacking the plotting, acting and twists to be a Hollywood thriller or the martial arts spectacle to be a martial arts action film.

    2.5/5
     

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