There are two pieces to every action movie – the action and everything else. Not exactly groundbreaking, I know, but I think the distinction is important. The action is what sells the tickets. It’s what people leave the theatre talking about. But everything else – the story, the themes, the characters – that’s what gives the action its context. It’s what gives it depth.
From the very first scene Haywire establishes itself as a force to be reckoned with in the action category. The combat in this movie has a distinctive style far removed from the glossy overwrought stuff you normally see out of Hollywood. It’s gritty, fast paced, quite brutal at times, and frankly it’s downright mesmerizing. The fight choreography alone is worth the price of admission.
But it’s the other half of that equation – the everything else half – that stops Haywire short of great. The plot, while not the worst I’ve seen (*cough* Transformers *cough*), becomes somewhat convoluted as the film progresses. Add to that a few glaring plot holes, weak dialogue, and poorly developed characters, and it feels like you’re simply being dragged from one set piece to the next.
This duality is never more apparent than with the film’s lead, Gina Carano. Carano, an ex-mixed martial arts fighter, excels at the stunt work. You can tell she really knows how to fight, and it brings an air of authenticity to the action sequences. Her acting though isn’t nearly as fluid. While the script clearly calls for her character to maintain a fairly cold and calculated persona, there are times when even that seems put on. She’s certainly not terrible, but she’s not Meryl Streep either. Still, after this outing you’ve got to think she’s just punched her ticket as a certified action star.
But something tells me that despite its flaws director Steven Soderbergh made exactly the movie he wanted to make. There’s a lot of flair to the way Haywire is shot and edited. Long single takes, cuts to slow black and white images – it’s the kind of stuff that wouldn’t seem all that out of place in a Tarantino movie. Haywire doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a popcorn movie, a film where style and attitude are just as important as story and character, and it succeeds at just that.
If you’re looking for something as smart and tightly plotted as the Bourne trilogy, you’ll probably be disappointed. But if you’re the kind of person who just likes a good fight sequence, Haywire is for you. It’s a breath of fresh air the action genre hasn’t seen in a long, long time.
3/5
