I was pretty stoked about this film when I first saw the trailer, way back at the tail end of last year. It looked, well, pretty much as I described in the post title, an action/spy-thriller in the vein of the Jason Bourne films, only with the lead character played by a female.
Upon further review....that is pretty much the way it played out, which is to say, a good thing. This wasn't as good as any of the Bourne Trilogy (does such a thing even exist?) and of course is a high quality piece of film-making, a la "A Separation", but its certainly isn't bad, and its entertaining, which sometimes is all you can ask for. The female role in question, Mallory Kane (played by Gina Carano...an actress I've never heard of before) is a special forces-type private contractor (think Blackwater...or whatever it has changed its name to in order to cover up its crimes in Iraq), who can put down any dude in a hand-to-hand fight and knows her way around fire-arms. Considered one of the best in her field, she is eventually turned on by her own organization and targeted for killing, for reasons which I will leave out. Some pretty big names round out the rest of cast: Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Ewen McGregor, Greg Kinnear, and Channing Tatum (I suppose he is well known enough now) all have roles. Steven Soderbergh, known for the "Ocean's [insert number 11 or above]" and "Out of Sight", among others, directed the film.
Now, that story line really isn't all that original, I suppose adding in the world of private contracting added a different twist, but nothing really to out of the ordinary. Having said that, it is still a fun flick. It has more than its fair share of action, a mixture of gun-play and martial arts. The choreography on the fight scenes was a bit disappointing at times. I suppose it can be difficult to get such things spot on, the Bourne films relied on shaky camera action to cover up any problems, giving the fights a more realistic feel. That tactic isn't employed here, so some of the hand-to-hand action looks a bit jaded. Even though the story feels a bit "super-soldier betrayed by their own, has no idea why, been there, done that", the directing team chose to unfold the plot-line in a way that holds the viewer's interest, primarily through flashbacks, and at least leaves them wanting to discover the reason for Kane's betrayal, which isn't revealed until the very end. The acting isn't really anything to write home about, but it isn't really a film you watch to see good acting. Channing Tatum appears to have the acting skills of a burn-victim wrapped in fully-body gauze, I'm not entirely certain how he secures roles. Antonio Banderas, despite being in like 3 scenes, is pretty fun to watch in this one, I liked his character. I suppose Carano did a decent job it what is really her first "big" role, she plays the part well. She is really easy on the eyes though.....
"Haywire" is a short one, doesn't even reach the hour and a half mark, and it goes by quick, with the rapidly progressing story and a decent helping of action sequences. It didn't really rock my world, again, the choreography was a bit disappointing at times, as was the acting, but you really can't take away from it, it was entertainment, and sometimes you just need a good action flick for a change of pace from those incredibly deep, almost art-like films that I am used to (OK...I embellish). Oh, and there are some pretty decent shots of cities like Barcelona and Dublin, including a really fun scene where Kane evades a team of SWAT officers in Dublin. Upstate New York, no specific location given, also features in the film, but who really cares?
Verdict: I'll say see it, definitely worth a rent for an 1 and 20 minutes of entertainment. Grade: B
If you liked this movie you might also like: Jason Bourne....except minus the tits.
Upon further review....that is pretty much the way it played out, which is to say, a good thing. This wasn't as good as any of the Bourne Trilogy (does such a thing even exist?) and of course is a high quality piece of film-making, a la "A Separation", but its certainly isn't bad, and its entertaining, which sometimes is all you can ask for. The female role in question, Mallory Kane (played by Gina Carano...an actress I've never heard of before) is a special forces-type private contractor (think Blackwater...or whatever it has changed its name to in order to cover up its crimes in Iraq), who can put down any dude in a hand-to-hand fight and knows her way around fire-arms. Considered one of the best in her field, she is eventually turned on by her own organization and targeted for killing, for reasons which I will leave out. Some pretty big names round out the rest of cast: Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Ewen McGregor, Greg Kinnear, and Channing Tatum (I suppose he is well known enough now) all have roles. Steven Soderbergh, known for the "Ocean's [insert number 11 or above]" and "Out of Sight", among others, directed the film.
Now, that story line really isn't all that original, I suppose adding in the world of private contracting added a different twist, but nothing really to out of the ordinary. Having said that, it is still a fun flick. It has more than its fair share of action, a mixture of gun-play and martial arts. The choreography on the fight scenes was a bit disappointing at times. I suppose it can be difficult to get such things spot on, the Bourne films relied on shaky camera action to cover up any problems, giving the fights a more realistic feel. That tactic isn't employed here, so some of the hand-to-hand action looks a bit jaded. Even though the story feels a bit "super-soldier betrayed by their own, has no idea why, been there, done that", the directing team chose to unfold the plot-line in a way that holds the viewer's interest, primarily through flashbacks, and at least leaves them wanting to discover the reason for Kane's betrayal, which isn't revealed until the very end. The acting isn't really anything to write home about, but it isn't really a film you watch to see good acting. Channing Tatum appears to have the acting skills of a burn-victim wrapped in fully-body gauze, I'm not entirely certain how he secures roles. Antonio Banderas, despite being in like 3 scenes, is pretty fun to watch in this one, I liked his character. I suppose Carano did a decent job it what is really her first "big" role, she plays the part well. She is really easy on the eyes though.....
"Haywire" is a short one, doesn't even reach the hour and a half mark, and it goes by quick, with the rapidly progressing story and a decent helping of action sequences. It didn't really rock my world, again, the choreography was a bit disappointing at times, as was the acting, but you really can't take away from it, it was entertainment, and sometimes you just need a good action flick for a change of pace from those incredibly deep, almost art-like films that I am used to (OK...I embellish). Oh, and there are some pretty decent shots of cities like Barcelona and Dublin, including a really fun scene where Kane evades a team of SWAT officers in Dublin. Upstate New York, no specific location given, also features in the film, but who really cares?
Verdict: I'll say see it, definitely worth a rent for an 1 and 20 minutes of entertainment. Grade: B
If you liked this movie you might also like: Jason Bourne....except minus the tits.
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