Haywire is about a mission gone awry…the film itself was an experiment gone awry. I really liked what they tried to do with the movie but the execution was off. They combined the directorial style of Steven Soderbergh with his trademark ensemble cast of Hollywood stars with a bombshell mixed martial arts icon. What resulted was an interesting take on black ops in an almost anti-action action film. Imagine a spy movie without the explosions and unexplainable plot twists replaced with a smart quick-thinking quick-moving spy that knows how to get out of any sticky situation. Imagine a one vs the world story where the one person doesn’t have special powers or a team of tech wizzes behind her. Oh yeah, and imagine that the bad ass no one can catch is a woman.
There’s a lot going for Haywire which makes it a decent film to watch but then the end result just doesn’t cut it. There’s not enough substance in the movie to put it over the top. The main problem, in my opinion, is that the star, Gina Carano, isn’t ready to have a leading role…her acting chops need as much work as Ewan McGregor’s fighting skills. Don’t get me wrong, she’s very convincing in her part but every time she opened her mouth, I thought I was watching a casting call and not the actual movie. Haywire was amazing fighting scenes wrapped between a bunch of movie stuff. They didn’t go hand in hand, it was like a mix of oil and water.
This could be a really good or really bad position to be in...
The impressive aspects of this movie were the sound, the keen shots from the cinematography, and the hand to hand combat. The sound was my favorite part of the movie. Soderbergh always mixes things in an unusual manner. Traditionally, you’d have loud rock music blasting in chase and fight scenes but in Haywire, you have toe-tapping jazz and curious synths. Also, silence played an important role letting the audience hear the blows and punches during fight scenes that added to the real visuals you were seeing. The hand to hand combat was the best I’ve seen in a long while. Obviously, when your star is a MMA fighter, you’re going to want to exploit that. And Carla makes your eyes pop with every move she pulls off. I applaud the fight coordinator. I was also really impressed with the fight acting of the rest of the cast – the fights with Channing Tatum and Michael Fassbender looked great. The actors could sell the fights but the fighter couldn’t sell her acting.
How beautiful is this shot?
The cinematography also blew me away – the shots were laid out so perfectly. In an era with chaotic cinema and most of the work happening in post production, it’s refreshing to see a film take the time to set up and really care about each camera angle. The way they shot the car chases and each fight scene is something to watch and learn from. I also love Soderbergh’s tradition of taking you on a ride around the world. This time we go to Barcelona, Dublin, San Diego, etc. I would say to watch the movie on mute but as I just mentioned, the sounds actually complements the visuals so well rather than being a distraction. Haywire is truly a quality film that’s just missing some key elements to make it a winner.
We've seen this shot before...but have you seen it like this?
You might be surprised to know that Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, and Bill Paxton are also in the movie. It’s such a weird thing when you have so many A-list quality actors in a movie that will be remembered for the subpar acting of the star. Again, she’s not a bad actress…she’s just not ready for a leading role. Everybody else, who was underutilized, is. Haywire is also a pretty short movie running only about 90 minutes and it feels shorter than it is as it pulls you into this mysterious story and you want the movie to take you to that next level of interest. I believe fans are going to be split on this one: those expecting a blockbuster action flick and those appreciating the technical style of the movie. I just wish there was a little bit more oomf to support the beautiful film making.
Tags: Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Gina Carano, Haywire, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Steven Soderbergh
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
