Haywire Review

Haywire stars Gina Carano as Mallory Kane, a highly trained, freelance operative, taking on various assignments around the world, through her handler Kenneth (Ewan McGregor). On what is to supposed to be a simple stand-in assignment, she is double crossed by her agency, and made a fugitive.

One look at Gina Carano's profile on IMDB will show you that she is a new comer, with nothing notable under her belt. The inexperience shows through in her acting; she can use work, but she isn't horrible. With a history in competitive TV shows like "Ring Girls," "Inside MMA," and "American Gladiators," just to name a few, she is able to pull off the action scenes effortlessly.

(Other stars include Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, and Michael Fassbender.)

Most of the story takes place in the form of flash backs and recounts by the characters that lived them, without any real verbal narration until the story is returned to the present for just a split second before diving back into the past. Often these flashback scenes are played out without much dialogue, rather with more running, fighting, shooting, and characters motioning to others and speaking without audio. This overview style of storytelling does not take away from the story, though, because the movie speaks, when it absolutely needs to, so that helps to cut out unneeded dialogue.

One of my fellow moviegoers told me that this movie looked low budget. In truth it is evident that this film operates on a less than average Hollywood blockbuster budget, though I think it tends to add to the movie in a few ways. One example is how that lack of a upper echelon production value seeps its way into the fight scenesl. This is more an example of how I think it helps the movie. The uncultivated hand-to-hand battles ultimately lead to a style that is unique to this one film, not something a viewer may feel was repeated from another.

In the end, Haywire will not be for everyone, but I genuinely like this movie. It is not groundbreaking and probably will not be remembered in just another year, but as for entertainment, it is good.

Feedback is encouraged.

—Thomas