Once upon a time, director Steven Soderbergh saw mixed martial artist Gina Carano in a fight and figured “Hey, that chick would be a cool action heroine.” So he decided to make “Haywire,” and the world rejoiced.
It’s strange how simple the genesis is for this well-made B-movie straight from the late ’70s with an all-star supporting cast surrounding the newbie. But that is to be expected from the unpredictable and naturalistic Soderbergh, who seemingly produces movies like he produces bowel movements (that is to say, often).
Gina Carano plays Mallory Kane, a highly skilled former Marine working for a private contracting firm run by Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), her ex-boyfriend. She is assigned a hostage recovery mission with partner Aaron (Channing Tatum) in Barcelona. As you may have guessed, things don’t go as planned and Mallory is marked for termination. She escapes barely and begins a mission to clear her name and bring to justice those who tried to kill her.
It’s a rote plot, one seen in everything from “The Fugitive” to the “Bourne Identity” trilogy, with the latter being the natural film to compare “Haywire” to, thanks to their many similarities. However, the strength comes from a surprisingly strong performance by Carano, steady direction by Soderbergh and the unreasonably talented supporting cast. On top of that, the film is packed with Oscar winners, nominees and should-be-winners-or-nominees. Specifically: Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Hollywood’s current man-crush Michael Fassbender.
“Haywire” is a thankful reprieve from the shaky camerawork of “Bourne,” where it appears the filming was only conducted during the director’s seizure fits. Here, Soderbergh sets the camera down and lets the fight wash over the viewer. The scenes are riveting and honest; two things sadly lost in most bombastic action movies.
This is Soderbergh’s take on action movies, in much the same way the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy is his take on heist movies and “Contagion” is his take on the viral-outbreak thriller. As always, he somehow manages to arrive ahead of the curve and produce something unique, working sort of like a minimalistic Tarantino. The two directors obviously share a passion for deconstructing film through the medium itself. As such, both filmmakers – but particularly Soderbergh – understand what makes movies entertaining in the first place and is able to produce something both fresh and comfortably entertaining. This is clearly the filmmaker’s own work so it still retains an air of artsy, indie production that started his career.
Despite the fact that nothing extraordinary happens, the movie is so well-made compared to other knockoffs (a.k.a. every Jason Statham movie except “Crank”). The straightforward direction lends a comforting hand to telling a classic story in a well-done way. Granted, there are weak spots in the film, where the tropes of the genre shine through such as random dues ex machina and plot convenience saves the day.
These lackluster moments are thankfully kept to a minimum, as is the craze of using technology as a crutch in movies like this. We are spared the many oh-so-classic moments such as “Freeze that image! Zoom!” and “Trace that call!” The movie even justifies the use of flashbacks to tell its story, something that should be banned due to its overuse to explain the most unimportant and inconsequential plot points.
At the end of the day, “Haywire” is a thoroughly entertaining spy action piece. With a new “Bourne” coming this summer without Matt Damon, it will be interesting to compare who succeeds. Right now, “Haywire” can best be described as “Bourne, but hotter.”
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Speakeasy Rating: B+
“Haywire”
Starring Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor
Rated R for some violence