Haywire Reviews

Honestly, when I heard about this project, I thought it sounded awesome. Indeed, after making ‘The Girlfriend Experience’, a movie starring Sasha Grey, a notorious porno star, as a high-end call girl, Soderbergh was this time making a (supposedly) kinetic spy action flick starring Gina Carano, a MMA champion. Furthermore, there was an impressive supporting cast so I was pretty sure it would be a winner. Eventually, it didn’t get much love when it was released but it was still eager to check it out anyway. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a huge disappointment and easly the weakest movie directed by Steven Soderbergh since ‘Full Frontal’ back in 2002. The point is that all the ingredients were there but the mix didn’t work out somehow. Of course, you could blame the limited acting skills of Gina Carano but I think she did what she could with the material and I’m sure she could impress us if she gets another fair shot. Above all, I thought the whole thing was just plain lazy. I mean, take the soundtrack for example, it was just some annoying generic spy tunes and it would have worked better if they got rid off it. On top of that, the story was not only rather non-sensical but seriously pedestrian and underwhelming. Finally, even though Carano was pretty bad-ass in the action scenes, Soderbergh, who is usually a fine director, didn’t manage to bring much tension in those scenes which felt pretty lifeless. The main problem I have with this director is that, pretty much like some other directors such as Woody Allen or Michael Winterbottom, instead of spending 3 or 4 years on one project and make sure it is a great flick, he made no less than 18(!) movies in 14 years and, as a result, you get such half-baked features. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating is actually really generous here, but I guess it is still worth a look, if only for the awesome cast and for the interesting potential displayed by Gina Carano.

This came as a bit of a surprise to me as you almost never find a movie as good as this in January. I realize that critics clearly enjoyed this more then people which should say something. That this movie was marketed as something completely different then it truly was. I realize this is the case with all of the director's work. The same thing happened with Contagion and Magic Mike which I both liked very much. So if you ever plan on seeing this movie, don't believe what the trailer tells you.

This is a very odd film. Yes it's an action film but it's different than what you're use to, which is why so many people disliked it. I can't explain it but it's just different and I'll admit, it did bother me too. The music does not fit the movie at all. I'm not sure what the director was trying to do here but 90% of the music was this weird 70's jazz music that you would find in a spy movie from that period. Whatever the case, it was annoying and sometimes took me out of the movie. These were really the only things that bothered me. I mean the director choose to shoot the movie in a variety of ways, some shots work, others don't, but it didn't bother me much. It might be off-putting to some of you though and that's one example in which I said earlier that this movie is different. It's not shot in a way your typical action movie is. So despite those problems I enjoyed everything else.

The action is fantastic, it's very well choreographed. There's no music accompanying the action scenes which make them seem more realistic and thus, another example of how this is different from your typical action film. The story is nothing new, this is after all a revenge flick, but the director adds enough of his visual flair and fresh ideas to make this movie stand above your typical revenge flick.

The cast is solid and for a first time performance Gina Carano was not bad. Was it a terrific performance? No, but she has potential. She would make a good Wonder Woman but that's just me. I hope she gets more roles because watching her kick ass was definitely worth the price of admission. The other person worth noting is Channing Tatum. This has been a good year for him in both in terms of box office and career. Now, I haven't seen The Vow and I don't have any intentions of seeing it anytime soon, but he has definitely reversed my opinion of him. With this, 21 Jump Street, and Magic Mike, I can't believe I'm saying this but, he can act. I hope now he decides to pick smart scripts and make smart choices because he has finally proven(it's been like what 6 years?) that he's got the chops.

Overall, a nice surprise since normally January is considered a dumping ground as a majority of the films are Hollywood rejects. This is another great movie from a great director who has been having a good year himself with this, Magic Mike, and last year's Contagion, he's slowly becoming one of my favorite directors. Sure this movie is very different, the music doesn't fit it at all, there's no music during the fight scenes, and some of the shots work better than others. However, the action is nice choreographed a nice-shot, no shaky-cam, the cast gives solid performances and how could you not find Gina Carano kicking ass not exciting or hot?

What a waste of time: bad editing, mediocre music and the dialogue wasn't too good either.
Nice fights and "eye candy" though... but not enough to make up for this being a waste of time. :(

Typical betrayal/on the run/revenge story. Nothing new, nor refreshing. Michael Fassbender character arch was good due to hotel room scene - really thrilling. Carano plays on her experience from wrestling which is interesting.

When I sat down to view Haywire I honestly thought that the only thing I had to overcome was the non acting performance of star Gina Carano. Get over that and there would be some Steven Soderbergh deliciousness to snack on. You'd also figure that even if she couldn't act she could, at least, kick a convincing ass or two.

Sadly, Haywire just doesn't work. If Carano spent more time fighting trained killers than her stilted dialogue it might be a winner. Instead, the majority of the film is convoluted, needlessly labyrinthine plotting that meanders across the globe. Haywire has been portrayed in its trailers as a smart. sexy action-thriller but it is none of the above. Instead it is a bit of a lumbering beast that only briefly allows its star to shine.