Michael O'Keefe

(2013-05-16 07:30:16)

A woman that gives as good as she gets.

High octane ass whipping. MMA fighter Gina Carano is Mallory Kane, astunning secret operative that takes a last minute mission in Dublin,that abruptly falls apart when she is betrayed. Why, she doesn't know;but she realizes that her life is definitely in danger and the only wayshe will survive is to outwit and outlast her enemies. The story lineis pretty shaky at best with just enough dialog to break up the powerpacked fight scenes. This martial arts operative kicks ass all the waythrough the cast. She gives as good as she gets. A white-knuckle actionflick with no CGI or unbelievable stunts. You can't say that Carano'sacting skills are stellar, but there is some top notch names roundingout the cast: Michael Angarano, Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas,Antonio Bandaras, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton and Ewan McGregor.

Viktor D

(2013-05-15 13:08:28)

More Soderbergh Junk

Having just purchased Haywire on Blu Ray, I can honestly say it isworthy of an extremely rare accolade : that of being only the 2nd movieEVER that I've sat down to watch and then found I had to turn it offbefore the end. (Incidentally, the only other movie I've ever had toswitch off before the end was Charlie's Angels 2, so you can see thekind of esteem I hold this film in).It's worth pointing out that I'm not a teenager (I'm late 30's), Ibelieve I'm well educated, I don't tend to leave my brain at the doorwhenever I sit down to watch a movie, and I don't suffer from attentiondeficit disorder. I have to say this because so many positive reviewerslike to claim that not liking a film has something to do with a lack ofintelligence or "not getting it". So, with that out of the way, I cansafely say that I found this film (like practically everything MrSoderbergh directs), to be dull, boring, pointless, and trying to befar too "arty" for it's own good. The script is weak, the acting ispoor, the direction is "peculiar" to say the least, the music/soundsare a constant distraction, and I even found the (alleged) "action"sequences boring and predictable. I'm surprised how many people saythey found this movie fresh and new : I found it to be totally theopposite - i.e. seen it all before, and no amount of strange sounds andweird music choices can change that.My evening of attempting to watch this with my better half wentsomething like this -Me - "Let's watch Haywire. I bought it today on the basis that thereviews on IMDb are generally good and the cast looks great".Her - "OK, you put it on and I'll get the wine"25 mins laterMe - "Bit slow this isn't it? And why is she telling a guy who's carshe's just stolen her entire life story?"Her - "Glad you said that, I thought it was me! I can't stand any ofthe characters so far and I really hate the way they speak - sounnatural. People don't behave like that!"5 mins laterHer - "What's this supposed to be? Action? Thriller? What..."Me - "Not sure. What it IS though is deeply boring, plus I'm getting aheadache from that god-awful music and weird camera work."Her - "Is there a plot, or indeed a point, to any of this?"Me - "Errr......"10 mins laterMe - "This is junk"Her - "You're damn right!"Me - "Had enough?"Her - "Yep"Me - "Fancy a cup of tea and we'll watch the news instead?"Her - "Two sugars please"Once again Soderbergh excels himself by taking a potentially excitinggenre and turning it into an experiment into tedium. On the basis ofthis and his last few movies, I seriously have to question hisdirectorial abilities : frankly I'd be surprised if he could directsomeone to the toilet in his own house. He's fast becoming my leastfavourite director with quite the back catalogue of stinkers to hisname - Ocean's 12, Ocean's 13, Solaris, The Limey, Contagion, The GoodGerman, to name but a few.......From now on if I see 4 specific words attached to a film (those wordsbeing, "Directed", "By", "Steven", and "Soderbergh") I'll save myselfthe bother of watching it, and immediately file it under, "Never to bewatched all the time I'm still in control of my faculties".

thisisreallytheend

(2013-05-15 03:04:13)

Tragic and unfortunate

I always thought my first review here (and contribution to theinternet) would be for a movie I'd want everyone to watch. Turns out,its going to be the opposite. This was absolute drivel - from start to45-minutes-in-and-wtf-is-going-on. Time was when a 6.2 rating on IMDbwas pretty good. Those times are clearly over. I fail to understand howanyone could rate this at all. With such an ensemble cast obviously oneexpects at least to sit through the movie. A confused plot-line, nohint of acting and dialogue that seems to written on the back of tissuepaper or made up as they went along while everyone was bored out oftheir brains. I don't want to write off the lead actress here and amwilling to give her the benefit of the doubt and all that. But Mr.Soderbergh did you do this because you lost a bet or something?Absolute drivel that's to be avoided at all costs.

fish2502

(2013-05-14 14:57:21)

I wish I could give this film a zero...

I wish I could give this film a zero... It sucked ass! DIDO... This is a truly terrible, terrible film. I felt compelled toregister for IMDb just to be able to post how bad this movie is, how itscores 6.5 on here defies belief. It's filmed like a cheap 70's TV copshow with an awful soundtrack, seems they decided to film it on someold celluloid film stock that they found gathering dust in a cupboard.Terrible chase and fight scenes, which in the most part were prettyboring. At one point the main character just walks down the streetbeing followed for a couple of minutes with literally nothinghappening. Watch it just to see how bad it is, but only if you can seeit for free. If I could give zero stars then I would have, please don'tpay money to watch this steaming pile of crap

unrealtheory

(2013-05-14 18:36:01)

This movie didn't deserve these fight scenes

This is a fast forward movie , just fast forward to the fight scenesand skip the rest. Haywire is set up as a start of a new action moviefranchise starring Gina Carano (top womens mma athlete)but falls shorton many things essential for a good movie . The plot doesn't seem to beone of these essential parts for the producers of this movie (as itshould have been) and is merely a ploy to introduce us to the maincharacter and her fight scenes. Other parts of the movie that failedare the dialog and the music , great movie music you notice , averagemovie score you don't notice but bad ones annoy you as did the score inHaywire. Now the good part, the action scenes and specially the GinaCarano fight scenes are great. I have been disappointed recently withfight scenes that get cut up in flashy shots of no longer then 2seconds pasted together showing the viewer nothing of the fight. Thismovie has some good fight scenes showing you everything in long andwide shots, and with Gina Carano we actually get to see some proper BJJmoves including arm bars , guillotine choke and a proper triangle choke(the first in action movie history ?). See it for the fight scenes ,skip the rest and hope that if they do make a sequel they spend alittle more time on the script.

Brian Tallerico

(2013-05-14 05:11:39)

Yet-another tightly-directed, expertly-made work from a director who seems to know no other way.

Christy Lemire

(2013-05-13 15:07:54)

"Haywire" feels like minor Soderbergh: zippy, hugely entertaining and well-crafted as always, but not one of his more important films in the broad scheme of things.

ragleon

(2013-05-13 09:42:56)

Steven Soderbergh's Best Action Movie

This is the best kind of action film. One in which we actually grantedthe pleasure of watching bodies move. Haywire is low on gaudyexplosions, which have become the best position of most action moviesas the fireworks have gotten bigger, louder and more elaborate, they'vecome to mean almost nothing. And although there is a car crash of sortsin Haywire, it's a too amusing one that's ingenious in its simplicity.When Soderbergh does action, less is more. He's more interested inwatching Carano, and he's betting we will be, too: Her muscles areobviously mighty, yet they have the softness of feminine curves –Mallory is a mixed-message heroine for sure, which is part of whatmakes her compelling. That Carano does all her own stunts, of course,only adds to the allure. Watching a woman being hurled against aflat-screen TV might not ordinarily be my idea of fun, but it's clearCarano can take it, and land on her feet like all of the violence inHaywire, the moment is brutal and laced with grim humor.I will Give10/10 for this best action movie.

valgez

(2013-05-10 19:49:32)

What was that?

Having read the reviews that appeared to give either "Bad" or "Great"votes, I actually developed a positive bias, since I just couldn'tbelieve that Gina's fighting skills didn't compensate for her lack ofthe playing experience, which I was willing to forgive. But, even thatdidn't help. The movie is just BAD. Forget about Gina's bad play andlook at the fighting scenes. Some say the scenes are "wellchoreographed" - yeah! They are! But nothing more apart from that! Theywere kind of a slow MMA's moves exhibition - boring, no viciousness, nospeed, no power... I could do it better! Gina is a professionalfighter, right? I mean, she is tough and well conditioned? Then why isshe running like a fat teen girl dreading physical lessons at school?If it were a B/C-Grade movie, it would have gotten a respective 3.5/10.But, being an A-Grade movie, - 1/10.

rod_jaytee

(2013-05-10 06:37:38)

Thighs of Steel, Acting of Wood

She has some superb fighting skills, obviously, and there are some goodscenes which validate those skills, but this was not worth 2 hours ofmy time. Seeing great actors waste their time on this actually makes memad (Ewan Mac doing fight scenes etc, Fassbender looking the part as healways does, but that's about it).Whatever-her-name- is is NOT a leading actress. At least Ong Bak wasloads of fun. And what's with the Twin-Peaks-ish music/lighting combo??Am I the only one who thinks Soderberg is utter gash??Thank God that rubbish is over, I'm still gonna want a refund on mydeathbed.

Treyroo

(2013-05-10 07:40:10)

Excellent first role for MMA champ

Imagine yourself being pursued by all manner of for-profit andgovernment assassins. What do you do? Who can you trust? Can you trustanyone? And is it still possible to make this interesting?Mallory Kane (played by Gina Carano) is a former Marine employed by aprivate contractor to deal with clandestine issues of national securityfor the United States government. When we first see her she is in adiner in a remote area by herself when, moments later, a formercoworker by the name of Aaron (played by Channing Tatum) asks her tocome with him back to their employer and assaults her when she refuses.Aaron (Tatum) has the upper-hand until a patron in the diner comes toMallory's aid and this allows Mallory to injure and incapacitate Aaronand escape with said patron, Scott (played by Michael Angarano) in hiscar. Worried this might be her only chance and looking for any help shecan get, Mallory recounts the events that resulted in her being on therun to Scott (Angarano) while he mends her injuries from her encounterwith Aaron and she drives. Meanwhile, Mallory's employer and formerboyfriend (for lack of a better word) Kenneth (played by Ewan McGregor)is making plans to contain the situation and the inevitable blowbackthat will result.Though I didn't know it going in, Carano's voice was dubbed over in thefilm. Having heard her voice since seeing the movie, I'm not sure ofthe motivation. Usually the motive for dubbing is inferior acting,inability to speak the language, or incompatibility between thecharacter and the voice of the actor portraying them. I can only assumethat she fell short as an actress but it doesn't show on screen. Themusic chosen by and work of director Steven Soderbergh in addition tothe fight scenes are all top-notch. Surprisingly so, as Channing Tatumhas not made one film up to this point that I've watched withoutregretting it later. Great movie.

Diva Velez

(2013-05-09 12:08:49)

Hobbled by bad pacing and an anemic script, Haywire should've been a fun popcorn actioner showing off Gina Carano's wonderfully brutal talents, which deserve a far more energetic and inspired vehicle.

TheUnknown837-1

(2013-05-09 00:27:08)

Gina Carano is an extraordinary martial artist, but she's not much of an actress.

James Agee once wrote that casting in the movies was more about findingthe right people as opposed to harvesting the most talent. It's acritical philosophy that I have often found to be true. Ideally, Isuppose that theory could apply to the decision to cast mixed martialartist Gina Carano in the new espionage thriller "Haywire." The roledemanded a martial artist. Miss Carano is an extraordinary martialartist, as she vividly demonstrates here. Throughout the movie, shescales treacherous obstacles, kicks through doors, propels herself offwalls, and beats the living tar out of six people. Guess who performedher stunts! She is also physically suited for the part: comely andattractive, but not a gushy heartthrob. Unfortunately, she is not muchof an actress. Not enough to make me care about her character as ahuman being, which, despite what the basic premise of the movie wouldsuggest, is part of the whole idea.I suppose James Agee's theory that you don't need a Paul Newman or aMeryl Streep to make a good casting choice applies somewhat to thisfilm. However, as the protagonist, Miss Carano lacks the personalitynecessary to get an audience involved. The entire movie follows hercharacter (a spy working for a branch-off from the government run byMichael Douglas) from Europe to the Americas, trying to unravel adouble-cross, and in order for this to work, the filmmaker and theactress need to manufacture a way to get the audience to empathize onsome level. As written by Lem Dobbs, the character is shaped to producesympathy. Miss Carano is not supposed to be a mere fighting machine;she is supposed to have some heart and a deep bond with her father(Bill Paxton). We are also meant to have some empathy and try to figureout along with her why somebody had double-crossed her. So even thoughMiss Carano did spend most of the movie doing what she was hired for –demonstrating her exceptional skills at martial arts – I found itincredibly hard to care what became of her. As a result, the mystery,clever as it is, meant little to me by the end.Another dubious casting choice was Channing Tatum as a fellow spy andone-night lover to the protagonist. Once again, he fails to impress me.Michael Douglas, as you'd expect, is reliably good, given his littlescreen time. I do appreciate the willingness of a star like him to playthird-fiddle to lesser-known people. Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderasare also effective in their small, personality-restricted parts."Haywire" was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who made the best movie oflast year, "Contagion." Dissatisfied as I am with his new project, I'mnot shelling him out too much blame, as his beautiful style,consciously artsy photography, and natural flow of images are thesaving grace of the movie. His only big lapse is a shootout midwaythrough the picture, when he hefts the camera up on a crane, giving usan extreme wide shot in which tires are popped, somebody is shot, and acar is riddled with machine gunfire. I appreciate his willingness totry something new with a typical action movie sequence as far asphotography and misc en scene are concerned, but the results in thisone particular shot seem trivialized. He does better when hephotographs the physical fighting, including a great shot where MissCarano and Michael Fassbender (as a man hired to kill her) throwthemselves over a couch during a brawl and the camera tilts down fromoverhead to follow them as they careen to the floor. Mr. Soderbergh isone of the most interesting of contemporary directors and even though"Haywire" is a misfire, I really hope this guy reconsiders his plans ofearly retirement. I don't think the world can afford to lose him whenpeople like Michael Bay are still running amok.

witster18

(2013-05-08 11:54:47)

Is Soderburgh going to make EVERY film like this now? Average.

I feel like Soderburgh is kind of stuck here - like a musician thatkeeps practicing thinking that it will make him perfect, but neverlearns anything new."Haywire" is marginally entertaining spy fare that combines therestraint of "The American" or "transiberian" , and blends it with thegritty action of "the Bourne Series" or "Spy Game".The number one complaint I get from reading some of these reviews isthat the acting was subpar. Personally, I think Gina Carano is one ofthe lone bright spots in this pretentious action flick. Steven picked afemale lead with amazing physical capabilities, and that led to somerealistic, "Chick-power" action sequences that are amongst the filmsonly redeeming qualities.The backstory is brushed over like unpolished steel, and there isn'tenough dialog here to make this interesting. There isn't enough actionto make up for the lack of dialog either.It has it's moments, and it's doesn't lack style. It just a style thatwe have already seen 5 times from this director, and it isn't evenamong the director's best. Better than a lot of similar stylish filmsof late that have lacked substance. Largo Winch, Columbiana, andDevil's Double come to mind. So, I don't wanna make it sound like thisis terrible - it isn't.We've just seen this before. It was called "Out of Sight", and at leastthere we were mesmerized by the chemistry of the leads.Not one that I'll likely remember or re-visit, but I did come in withfairly high-expectations.61/100 you MIGHT like this if you liked: Le Femme Nikita(better), SpyGame(about equal), The Long Kiss Goodnight(not as good),Transiberian(slightly better or about even), or The American(better).

paul-2369

(2013-05-08 06:45:52)

Felt like a bad dream that I just wanted to end

If i could vote 0 then i would have done as this movie doesn't evendeserve 1 out of 10... don't know who wrote the good reviews, peoplelinked with the production team or the studio I assume.This is actually the first movie I have trashed as even bad movies havesome aspect of good in them like a good story, decent acting or thefact that they have been made with a very low budget, but this movieshas nothing at all and I can't believe that actors like Ewan McGregorand Michael Douglas agreed to do it.. maybe it was down to some studioobligation or something.I kept watching till the end thinking that maybe it would improve butit didn't, lucky it's a short movie. And the awful music was justanother nail in it's coffin, what the hell was that music they kept onplaying.I made my wife watch it and I was actually embarrassed, I thought aboutjust turning it off a number of times, wish I had done... well, that's90 minutes of my life I would get back

Rex Reed

(2013-05-07 22:44:25)

The whole point of this time-wasting farrago of idiocy is that women can cut, kick, slash, burn, maim and kill just like men -- and make bad movies that are just as stupid.

Andrew Collins

(2013-05-07 08:56:36)

The violence is effectively tailored around Carano's undeniable skills...

Leofwine_draca

(2013-05-07 02:49:02)

Right ingredients, wrong director

The problems with HAYWIRE can be laid firmly at the door of directorSteven Soderbergh, who is entirely unsuited to directing what should bea pulse-pounding thriller. Soderbergh's light 'n' breezy,art-house-style direction is at odds with the kind of gritty,realistic, down 'n' dirty vibes he's aiming for here, and the result isan oddly unrewarding movie that goes through the motions, ticks all ofthe boxes, and yet fails to make any impact on the viewer whatsoever.Although it looks good, it turns out to be a hollow, slightly soullessexercise in movie-making.The good thing about HAYWIRE are the martial arts scenes: they're verywell filmed, highly exciting and utilise to full advantage the skillsof real-life mixed martial arts fighter and lead Gina Carano. Havingrecently rewatched the BOURNE trilogy (in preparation for the upcomingBOURNE LEGACY), I can acknowledge they're the equal of anything inthose movies. However, it's the long, slow passages in-between theaction that really cause this film to stall. Soderbergh shoots them inhis usual way, with jazzy music playing in the background and subdued,quick-fire dialogue, and while that worked in the likes of THE LIMEYand OCEAN'S ELEVEN, it just doesn't here.The whole exercise feels artificial, and you get the impression thatSoderbergh is trying too hard. There's no palpable tension, no sense ofbuild-up, no suspense about what's going to happen to the protagonist.In fact, it's all rather boring, and you're left itching for the nextfight scene to take place. Compare this with THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, inwhich I was on the edge of my seat during the non-action bits, caughtup in an involved conspiracy storyline, unable to wait to find out whatwas going to happen next. HAYWIRE flatlines between the martial artsantics.The script doesn't help; it's on the level of the average Seagal DTVactioner, and makes some truly odd decisions (like highlyskilled/unbeatable agent Carano telling her life story in flashback toa random stranger throughout the course of the film – far better tohave adopted a linear structure and just begun at the beginning insteadof this wannabe clever-clever stuff). There are other pluses: the castis faultless, and Soderbergh even elicits a rather effectiveperformance from walking muscle Channing Tatum. But some of theseasoned performers are underutilised: Douglas, Banderas and Paxton aregiven little to work with, and Ewan McGregor is miscast in awishy-washy role.

Roz Laws

(2013-05-06 05:07:33)

At least it feels fresh to have a kick-ass, intelligent woman in the leading role, who can take on and beat men at their own game.

slash_555

(2013-05-05 08:34:28)

Left confused and unimpressed...

After seeing the trailer for this film i was left chopping at the bitto watch it...oh dear. Not what i expected to put it mildly. I've comeacross other review sites with 'top critics' giving it high praise, buti don't see how. It took all of 15 minutes for me to feel like walkingout of the screen...but i didn't, i wanted to give it a try and see ifit improved further on. Unfortunately i was left disappointed, the onlygood part of the film for me, was the fight scenes. Well executed, if alittle over the top in parts. But this really is the only good point ofthe film. I found the whole story confusing and pointless, and for thecalibre of actors in the film, i was surprised they couldn't have donebetter. The sound track through out the film is incredibly annoying, itdoesn't suit the film at all. A lot of the acting was drab, and uninspiring. I was happy when the film ended so i could walk out andforget about it. Overall i expected more, i wanted to like this filmbut i really couldn't.