Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Michael Angarano, Antonio Banderas, and Michael Douglas
Maybe my expectations were just a little too high. Maybe, I’m a dreamer. I was excited to seeHaywire. And why not? A film directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, theOceans series,Contagion) with a cast that includes new “it” actor Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas and Ewan McGregor is destined to pack a punch and wow audiences. Not so much.
Haywire is the story of Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), a former marine turned private operative. Kane works for a private company run by Kenneth (McGregor) that performs covert operations for various intelligence agencies (i.e. CIA, Mi-6). At the start of the film, Kane is on an assignment to rescue a journalist being held hostage in Barcelona. The mission is successful and Kane is asked to immediately take on an additional job in Ireland. Unbeknownst to Kane, the Dublin assignment is a setup and another operative attempts to assassinate her. The film follows Kane’s attempt to clear her name and exact revenge on those behind the plot to kill her.
Unfortunately,Haywire never finds the right rhythm. It is like a female Jason Bourne meets 1970’s revenge film complete with cheesy action sequence music. The dialogue is not particularly witty, it is not tongue in cheek, and the action sequences are not particularly creative. At times, I was actually more interested in the random person snoring behind me in the theater than what was happening onscreen. That is never a good sign.
There are some positive aspects to the film. Channing Tatum turns in a believable performance as a not so bright operative and Carano opens up a serious can of whoop ass on all challengers. For January fare, it is an acceptable action flick. However, I wouldn’t brave cold winter weather to see it without a decent drink to warm me up.
