Haywire

It's no secret that Haywire exists simply to promote former MMA fighter, Gina Carano, as the next big action star. In fact, judged solely on this level, the movie's a resounding success. Carano is a beautiful, yet imposing figure. And naturally, given her background as a professional fighter, she gets to show off her physical prowess more than once. You can tell that this movie has confidence in her just in the way her fight scenes are shot. Rather than being filmed up close with tight edits like a lot of recent action movies, Haywire's fight scenes are shot at a comfortable distance, so that we can see everything, and admire Carano's fighting technique. If this was a straight-up, dumb fun movie, I could give it a full recommendation. But I have a sneaking suspicion that director Steven Soderbergh was hoping his movie would be seen as a little bit more artful than your standard action film, and at that, the movie stands on less solid ground.

The talent both on and behind the camera help raise our expectations from the get-go. Soderbergh is directing, and the screenplay is provided by Lem Dobbs, whose past credits include Dark City and The Limey. And then there's the supporting cast that surrounds Carano in her acting debut - Names like Michael Douglas, Ewen McGregor, Bill Paxton, and Antonio Banderas. And yet, despite their presence, they're not really given real characters to play. They're obviously here because of Soderbergh's influence. Okay, you say, well that's fair, considering this is supposed to be Carano's movie, right? Well, even here, I have my doubts. Whenever she's performing her stunts, she's splendid, and you can understand why someone could easily see her as a bankable action star. But the movie barely gives her a character to play. She comes across a mostly-emotionless female Terminator that I never really had a grasp on how I was supposed to feel about her. She has no real emotions, and aside from a loving past with her father that the movie hints at now and then, no real background story. Her character exists simply to be dragged from one end of the plot to another, kicking and punching anyone who crosses her path.

Speaking of the plot, it too is somewhat disappointing in its over familiarity. Carano plays Mallory Kane, a covert operative on the run ever since she was double crossed while on a mission from the U.S. government. Who betrayed her and framed her? We learn in an extended flashback that it could be anyone from partners on different missions, like Aaron (Channing Tatum) or Paul (Michael Fassbender), to her long-time boss Kenneth (Ewen McGregor), to a shady government official (Michael Douglas), or a Spanish operative (Antonio Banderas). Mallory's search for the truth is told in a minimalist style, emphasizing visuals over dialogue. I was reminded of last year's Drive, which used a similar style, but was much more successful at it. I think a big reason it worked in that movie is that I was drawn in by Ryan Gosling's mysterious character, and certainly his performance. There's no real mystery behind the character of Mallory Kane. She comes across as someone who prefers to punch someone's teeth out, then doesn't bother to ask questions. And while this creates some impressive action sequences, it never really makes her into an interesting character, or even someone we can get behind.

Haywire seems to be cut to the very core essentials. And while this means there is no filler or scenes that seem unnecessary (the movie flies by at a very brisk 90 minutes), it also means that everyone who pretty much walks onto the screen suffers, because we don't know anything about them. We get the motivations, but we don't get the why behind them. I think the movie's tone and pace kind of threw me off. With its minimalist tone, and slightly slower pace from what we've come to expect in action movies, I thought maybe the screenplay would take the opportunity to strengthen the characters, or our connection with them. But everyone is given such shaky motivations, the filmmakers would have been better off making this a big, dumb loud movie, rather than a thin movie passing itself off as an artful one.
I can certainly see Gina Carano going on to do other things in Hollywood, hopefully a movie that allows her to play a character as well as successfully show off her fighting ability. As a launching pad for that career, Haywire shows us a lot of potential. But then it kind of stops there, and expects us to be satisfied. I don't know, maybe Carano's fans from her Mixed Martial Arts days will be. I just know I wanted more.

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