Haywire (C or 2/4 stars)
An elite black ops agent is betrayed by her superiors, targeted for elimination, then seeks to prove her innocence & inflict revenge in 'Haywire' (directed by Steven Soderbergh). The agent is Mallory Kane (Mixed-Martial Arts champ, Gina Carano), who is part of a team that is subcontracted for various 'jobs' where government agents like Coblenz (Michael Douglas) need to have their as*es covered. After successfully completing a job in Barcelona, Mallory is sent by her boss, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), to Dublin. There, she is to team-up with Paul (Michael Fassbender) & proceed with their mission. She is double-crossed, however. And this sets off a chain of events that finds Mallory in a small roadside diner in upstate NY beating up her former lover, Aaron (Channing Tatum).
Almost an hour of this film is spent in flashback mode, with only the final 25 min. or so occurring in real time (the diner scene and onward). The brunt of the story (if there is one) takes place in Dublin with the Fassbender character, and that's all part of the narrative Mallory tells to a good samaritan (Michael Angarano) who helps her escape from the diner altercation with Aaron. With Mallory narrating, the movie skips back & forth at will, using her monotone dialogue deliveries to fill in the blanks (and boy, are there blanks). Using her high trained black ops training, Mallory must run & attack & run & attack & devise a smart & dangerous trap for all those expected to have double-crossed her within her agency. Much violence ensues. And ... not much else.
'Haywire' offered me a very strange film experience. Look, I like the actors involved. The action is kick-ass (Gina Carano is one tough chick!). The film is mercifully short (maybe 88 min. or so). And there are a few interesting visual flourishes. i.e., 1) all of the fight scenes are expertly choreographed & edited. You feel every visceral blow. 2) Feeling the tension/paranoia for Mallory as a man on the other side of the street parallels her every move. 3) Seeing a car pull away from the curb ... is it following her or not? 4) an inventive sequence where Mallory drives recklessly through snow-covered woods, etc.. HOWEVER, most of the rest of the film is tedious because there's almost nothing to the story! There's no deep meaning to her revenge. No rooting interest. No lasting significance.
To be honest, I nodded off at one point because there's a lackadaisical tracking shot that follows Mallory walking around a city for a good 5 min. or so. Watching Mallory kick, beat, spin, crack, choke, pummel & crush her ruthless adversaries is fun. And as mentioned, it's all shot in a very blunt, yet stylized manner. Gina Carano is no actress. She lacks charisma. But as a kick-ass leading lady, she acquits herself fine. The rest of the performances are fine for what they are. And that's another thing: there's no characterization in the script. No one is interesting. No one has a background story. Mallory's prior relationship with Aaron is glossed over. See, its allllll surface stuff. You don't even know who is behind Mallory's frame-up or find out why it's happened 'til late in the proceedings. Mallory is betrayed & she gets revenge. Nothing else. Then it ends. Okay, cool. That's it?
Almost an hour of this film is spent in flashback mode, with only the final 25 min. or so occurring in real time (the diner scene and onward). The brunt of the story (if there is one) takes place in Dublin with the Fassbender character, and that's all part of the narrative Mallory tells to a good samaritan (Michael Angarano) who helps her escape from the diner altercation with Aaron. With Mallory narrating, the movie skips back & forth at will, using her monotone dialogue deliveries to fill in the blanks (and boy, are there blanks). Using her high trained black ops training, Mallory must run & attack & run & attack & devise a smart & dangerous trap for all those expected to have double-crossed her within her agency. Much violence ensues. And ... not much else.
'Haywire' offered me a very strange film experience. Look, I like the actors involved. The action is kick-ass (Gina Carano is one tough chick!). The film is mercifully short (maybe 88 min. or so). And there are a few interesting visual flourishes. i.e., 1) all of the fight scenes are expertly choreographed & edited. You feel every visceral blow. 2) Feeling the tension/paranoia for Mallory as a man on the other side of the street parallels her every move. 3) Seeing a car pull away from the curb ... is it following her or not? 4) an inventive sequence where Mallory drives recklessly through snow-covered woods, etc.. HOWEVER, most of the rest of the film is tedious because there's almost nothing to the story! There's no deep meaning to her revenge. No rooting interest. No lasting significance.
To be honest, I nodded off at one point because there's a lackadaisical tracking shot that follows Mallory walking around a city for a good 5 min. or so. Watching Mallory kick, beat, spin, crack, choke, pummel & crush her ruthless adversaries is fun. And as mentioned, it's all shot in a very blunt, yet stylized manner. Gina Carano is no actress. She lacks charisma. But as a kick-ass leading lady, she acquits herself fine. The rest of the performances are fine for what they are. And that's another thing: there's no characterization in the script. No one is interesting. No one has a background story. Mallory's prior relationship with Aaron is glossed over. See, its allllll surface stuff. You don't even know who is behind Mallory's frame-up or find out why it's happened 'til late in the proceedings. Mallory is betrayed & she gets revenge. Nothing else. Then it ends. Okay, cool. That's it?