Oh mama! If you think that all director Steven Soderbergh and writer Lem Dobbs (who last worked with Soderbergh on THE LIMEY) wanted to do with HAYWIRE is produce scenes that set up star and former mixed martial arts star Gina Carano to kick all kinds of ass, well you aren't totally wrong. Without giving too much away, let's just say that the timeline in this movie isn't 100 percent linear, and there are many reveals via flashback that are quite cool. My point is that there's a great b-movie star at play here as well, and while some might think that Soderbergh is slumming by even doing something so raw and brutal, I think he's paying tribute to the kinds of films that might have gotten his blood pumping a little stronger as a kid. HAYWIRE certainly got mine going.
Carano plays Mallory Kane, a private contractor hired by the government (through her handler/boss, played by Ewan McGregor) for various security jobs including extraction and neutralizing work. She's determined to get out of the life, but we know how well those decisions go in the movies. After allowing herself to get talked into one last high-paying gig of rescuing a kidnapped Chinese journalist, Mallory realizes she's been double crossed, probably by someone close to her, and there are many suspects to choose from, and few she can trust to help her figure out who is trying to have her killed.
Carano is largely untested as an actor, but I think she actually does a commendable job playing against the likes of Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, and Bill Paxton, who plays her father. It was also nice to see Michael Douglas back on the boards as the contact between the government and the security team. But when it comes to the usually close-quarters action sequences, Carano (who does all her own stunts) is a beautiful and deadly force of nature. What's interesting about the way Soderbergh stages the fight scenes is that he doesn't drag them out; Mallory received black-ops military training, which is all about getting things done quickly and quietly, so when she has to dispatch with an opponent it's often quick and lethal. But when she meets an opponent that is more her match, that's when things get fun--for us anyway.
In truth, the plot of HAYWIRE doesn't really matter that much. If you get lost, all you really need to know is that a bunch of people want Mallory dead, and she is going to release an unholy combination of fists and feet to stay alive. But as I mentioned, the story is actually kind of fun if you can navigate the shifting timeline. But everyone in front of and behind the camera on Haywire exists to serve Carano, at whose hands and thighs I would gladly take a beating. She's attractive without being glammed out; even in form-fitting evening ware, she exudes a toughness crossed with raw power. Violence is in her eyes, but there's also a hint of unbridled passion--maybe for blood, maybe for other forms of physical contact. My immediate thought was how many more movies I'd love to see Carano in immediately.
Fans of Soderbergh know he's a big fan of hiring non-actors in the lead roles of many of his smaller films, perhaps most notoriously in THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE with adult film star Sasha Grey. But strangely enough, most times when Soderbergh goes this route, it works. And it might work best of all in HAYWIRE, which doesn't feel like your traditional action fare; it feels real without the amplified punching sounds effects and wildly spinning camera movement. Soderbergh shoots the fighting straight on, and the sounds he chooses sound like the natural thudding of fist on bone. You will wince with every impact, and then come running back to Gina Carano and ask for seconds. I know you all want to see HAYWIRE; I'm just here to confirm that it's as good as you were hoping it would be.
