Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Ahhh, Soderbergh, you are a man I can never quite pin down. He's frustratingly boring at times (Girlfriend Experience, The Good German) and completely enthralling the next (The Informant!, Ocean's Eleven). Going into one of Soderbergh's affairs, you're never quite sure what you're going to get. Thankfully, Haywire is one of his best works to date and even competes with the Bourne movies for most realistic and bone-crushingly (literally!) good spy action.
The plot is pretty cut and dry (although most spy movies are - it's all about the double-cross, my friends). Carano - a very exceptional MMA fighter making her leading role debut - plays Mallory, a spy/mercenary who has been double crossed for reasons unknown at the beginning of the movie. She tells the events of the movie to a kid who helped her escape the evil clutches of Channing Tatum (a very underrated actor, might I add) and we float between the present and past quite annoyingly - just let us follow it from the beginning! But the plot really isn't why you're watching this movie - it's to see a very well-endowed lady kick some grade-A actors' butts! And quite honestly, it's pretty amazing.
I really fell in love with this movie because each scene is set up so beautifully. It's a very quiet and sometimes slow movie - but the movie is better off because of it. There's no explosions or epic music playing to get in the way of the real, nitty gritty action. It all seems very authentic and Carano does a great job at playing the badass. In fact, her fight scenes between Fassbender and McGregor were like getting punched in the stomach - you could almost feel it. I think I yelled "Oh snap!" a couple of times during those scenes!
But the movie isn't just all about the action - there's a lot that can be read into the movie about this strong female making a living in a man's world. I've only seen the movie once, but I bet there's some interesting underlying themes of gender roles and such that you could probably write a decent grad school paper on. So if you're looking to be intellectually stimulated, the movie has that going for all you bookworms.
As far as I'm concerned Carano can hold her own against some awesome actors. She's not going to win any Oscars, but she can certainly act. And I'm pretty sure she does most of her own stunts, so I can't wait to see what other movie roles she lands. The rest of the cast is pretty much a who's who of A-list actors - Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, and Bill Paxton plays her dad! Woah!
So if you're a fan of the Bourne movies or just looking for something stimulating for your brain that won't bore you to pieces - this one is worth picking up. It's a great action flick that has many layers and is worth checking out at least once!
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