HAYWIRE

Haywire (2012)
Grade: C
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Angarano, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas, and Antonio Banderas
PREMISE: A special forces operative seeks justice after she is betrayed in the field and her family is endangered.

Rated R for violence and language

Back in January, I was faced with a choice. With my love for movies rejuvenated by the wonderful surprise of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, I was eager to see something else, so I set my eyes on a pair of ensemble spy thrillers that were gracing screens at the same time. There was 2011 holdover Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and one of 2012's first films: this one, Haywire. Both were intriguing, what with twist-and-turn spy/assassin/espionage plotlines, and some of the best and most interesting actors of the modern era. I chose Tinker Tailor because of its classier actors and seeming greater sophistication. Well, that movie, while well-made, turned out to be a merciless two hour bore, with no action, no humor, and nothing that raised the pulse at all. Not to mention it wasted great actors like Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman (really, how often can you get an ensemble like that in one movie). So, that mistake made, I set my eyes on seeing Haywire, which seemed a little more garden variety but seemed to promise more verve and balls-to-the-wall action. Well, I finally watched it four months later, and I was disappointed.

Plot: When a pale-skinned, dark-haired woman named Mallory (Gina Carano) is joined at her diner booth by a hulking jock (Channing Tatum), it seems fairly routine. But as soon as he gets a chance, he flings his coffee in her face, slams her head against the booth table, and pistol-whips her out onto the floor. His onslaught is stopped by the brave efforts of a bystander (Michael Angarano), whom the woman promptly commandeers for a ride. While she speeds down the road and methodically instructs him on how to patch up her wounds, she explains herself, and the situation. Not long ago, she was hired by a group of shadowy feds (Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas) to join a team in Barcelona that was attempting to rescue a journalist being held hostage by terrorists. Tatum's hired gun was also on that team. The mission went well enough, with Mallory disposing of any real threats with her ruthless fighting skills, but a follow-up mission did not. Halfway through, Mallory finds the journalist dead, then she's unexpectedly set upon by her partner (Michael Fassbender), a fellow agent with whom she'd been feigning a happy marriage. She uses his phone to track his most recent calls, and they lead directly back to at least one of the feds (McGregor's Kenneth).

So, being hunted by at least two parties (of course, these feds have denied their affiliation with her and have all police units in her area looking for her), Mallory seeks ways to contact-and negotiate with-the ringleader of the trio (Douglas), while also trying to outmanuever her old ally (Tatum) and get protectively-close to her doting, author father (Bill Paxton). But, naturally, anyone now affiliated with her is a target, and it's not exactly easy being her, either.

What Works?
In a movie like this, only two things really matter: the magneticism of the lead, and the umph of the fight scenes. For the lead, take Matt Damon's Jason Bourne and trade Damon for a surly, tight-lipped, lethal brunette, and you've got Mallory (minus the amnesia, that is). Carano's performance doesn't have a particularly-great range, but it isn't supposed to. She has a businesslike approach-she's never going for overly-emotional or breathtakingly sexy-but she has a genuinely imposing presence; she looks like she can take care of business (even before she does). Which leads me to what Haywire does particularly well: Director Steven Soderbergh ought to get a metal, as he's got to be the first large-scale action director in nearly a decade who doesn't so much as hint at shaky-cam for presenting his fight scenes. Not a twitch. Not a wiggle. Hardly even a cut (most of the key fights, if I remember correctly, are filmed with lengthy, wide-angle tracking shots). And it's ingenious. I don't know if it's because Carano is a real-life MMA fighter and can actually fight like her character (thus, quick cuts aren't necessary to try and disguise the use of a stunt double), but the fights are all well-choreographed, easy to follow, and impressively gritty. This isn't Bourne Supremacy, with the camera rattling and swirling and diving and fast-cutting: Mallory's fights with armed thugs, outfitted SWAT officers and, especially, with Fassbender's Paul, are borderline spectacular in all their bone-crunching finesse. Haywire isn't as pulse-raising as some might expect from a chase movie, but all the fights are memorable, and the way they're filmed is the reason why.

What Doesn't Work?
Unfortunately, the plot is both by-the-numbers and hard to follow. The names of the agents (Kenneth, Coblenz, Stephen, Rodrigo) blend together, the facts of Mallory's missions are quickly-uttered and unclear, and the framing device involving the Angarano character (his name is Scott, and he's a nice guy) is both awkward and cumbersome, and then quickly and utterly disposed of. And, once again, here's a movie with a dream cast that almost criminally underuses said ensemble. Basically, you know your actors underperformed when the most memorable actor in a movie featuring two freshly-minted superstars (Tatum and Fassbender), three proven veterans (McGregor, Paxton, and Banderas) and one of the most recognizable faces of the past three decades (Douglas), is an MMA-fighter-turned-actress. Other than Douglas and Banderas (the unnecessary third and fourth wheels latched onto the main Mallory/Kenneth conflict), all of them have their moments, but their moments are usually over too quickly (Tatum's 'moment' ends along with his character's life late in the running). Flesh the film out a little, and you could have done a lot with this group.

Content: Most of the fighting is bloodless while it's happening-given Mallory's penchant for punching, kicking, and jabbing her opponents rather than goring them with knives or shooting them up-but there are some bloody bodies shown, including dead ones. And there is a decent amount of profanity but since most of the dialogue is mumbled, they're not all immediately intelligible. It basically follows what I've said: this is such a by-the-numbers action flick that, despite the rock-em/sock-em fights, it's pretty even-keeled, verging on boring.

Bottom Line (I Promise): It feels blah and overlong (a really lousy accomplishment for a 93-minute chase-oriented action movie), and, despite some really cool fight scenes, is largely unengaging and unmemorable. Haywire was made on a surprisingly-light $20 million budget, and yet it didn't even earn that back at the box office. There's a reason.

Haywire (2012)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Lem Dobbs
Rated R
Length: 93 minutes