Film Review - Haywire

Last night I went along to the Vue in Islington for a preview screening of Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, Haywire. Starring former MMA fighty lady Gina Carano as Mallory Kane, a member of a special operations unit contracted by the government, who is then set-up by her former employers. She then proceeds to royally kick the shit out of them.

I probably would...

While the plot may be one of the most over-used stories out there, Soderbergh manages to make it seem fresh thanks to an excellent cast, including the likes of Ewan Macgregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton, Channing “I have been in two Step-Up films” Tatum and of course not forgetting the leading lady herself, Gina Carano. She will be unknown to most people but Carano proves that she has the acting chops to go along her considerably impressive physical presence and proves to be more than capable enough to carry the film. As a former MMA fighter, she easily convinces as a trained killer but it is her ability to act that impressed me the most, she manages to maintain an air of femininity along with an air of “could definitely kick the shit out of pretty much everyone”.

The desire to actually snap Channing Tatum's neck must have been strong.

David Holmes provides the musical accompaniment to all the fighting, having worked with Soderbergh through the Ocean’s Eleven series, and it almost feels as though he has just copied the soundtrack from those films and pasted it over this one, I felt that occasionally the “elevator jazz” style somewhat jarred with the brutal nature of the film, but this is a minor quibble.

Soderbergh’s direction is typically assured but I felt he misfired slightly for one scene early on in the film, during a rescue attempt in Barcelona the whole thing is filmed with all dialogue and gunfire drowned out by the music and I thought it all seemed to go on a little bit too long. I generally like Soderbergh’s style, but it felt a little forced here. He more than makes up for this though during a scene that sees Mallory leaving a hotel, aware she is being followed but not sure by who. There is an expertly constructed sense of paranoia as she walks down the street and cars drive by and pedestrians walk toward her, you are just waiting for the moment when someone bursts from a door or a car screeches to a halt.

If she isn't in The Expendables 3, I will be pissed.

The script leaves a little to be desired and the plot is of course fairly predictable, but then you are really not watching this film for some expertly written dialogue or stunning twists, the whole point of the film is to serve up bucket loads of fights in a stylish and very visceral manner and in this respect, the film delivers spectacularly.