Haywire
A violent thrill ride with a top cast, Haywire is a great action flick.
Following the trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded foray into the action genre, we were very exited for Haywire. Happily, the film delivers all the explosive action and brutal fight scenes we expected, throwing in a welcome indie sensibility typical of its director.
The plot is fairly threadbare, following black ops agent Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) as she is double crossed and framed by the very people she works for. Setting out, naturally, for revenge, she blazes a trail of vengeance from the States to Spain and back again, via Dublin.
The first pleasing element here is the casting of Carano. Known in her day job as “Conviction”, Carano is a respected MMA fighter, known for her devastating Muay Thai skills. Of course, as an actress she comes off as a little one-dimensional, but Soderbergh wisely works with his star’s best attributes, and it is nigh-on impossible to think of another performer who could match the raw physicality of Carano. The script gives her little in the way of heavy acting to do, allowing her to focus on the ferocious fight sequences which the film will become known for.
The supporting cast is packed with stars, with Ewan McGregor pitching his treacherous villain as a suitably despicable sort, and Antonio Banderas doing an equally fine job as Mallory’s contact in Barcelona. Michael Douglas pops up as a U.S Government type, and the tone is set early on at a meeting between the three- this is what happens when A-list stars are given characters they can have fun with, the slightly B-movie atmosphere of the film giving them all a platform to play their archetypes to great effect. Man of the moment Michael Fassbender features as a British agent partnering Mallory on a mission, and is as classy as we have come to expect from the Irishman. His is a rather small role, but he is given ample screen time to shine. Other notable turns come from cult icon Bill Paxton, as Mallory’s ex-military father, and Channing Tatum as a likeable knucklehead colleague of hers.
The violence on show here is surprising in its intensity – there are very few incidents of gunplay, giving Carano a chance to show off her octagon skills on film. Arms are broken, heads shoved through glass and household objects brought to bear on skulls as the camera unflinchingly depicts every scrap without cutting. One kill in particular reminded us of the infamous hammer scene in Kill List for sheer unexpected mercilessness.
The action is skilfully marshalled by Soderbergh, whose indie style gives the film a refreshing, almost European tone. Lingering shots, moving cameras and a non-chronological narrative structure, combined with that unforgiving violence give this a feeling of being about as far from a typical Hollywood action flick as it could feasibly have been. So many action films these days are almost music videos with their quick cuts and loud soundtracks, so to have something within the genre with such left-field direction feels brilliantly original. Another major factor is David Holmes’ soundtrack – a jazzy, fast-tempo mix, it sits interestingly with the on-screen action , giving some high-octane chase scenes in particular an extra compelling edge. It’s a strange score - close your eyes and you could almost be watching a French New Wave film - but it works neatly.
The biggest problem Haywire runs into is that, for all its exhilarating stunt work, crunching fight scenes and a superbly fun cast, it feels perhaps a set-piece short. As inventive as the action is, the viewer may be left with the feeling that no one scene in particular is more memorable than the others. This is a slightly nit-picky negative though, and aside from this, of course critics will point to the paper-thin plot and pantomime characters, but for those who enjoy a good old fashioned action romp, with a stellar cast and a top filmmaker at the helm, Haywire will not disappoint.
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