Haywire

 

Haywire was one of those movie that I thought looked good from the get go and I felt it could definitely have some promise. It went to go along the same premise as a lot of those spy movies where our main spy is framed and so they are on the run to try to prove their innocence and get revenge on those who betrayed them. While this is usually a story line and plot that is right up my alley, it did not come together for me and so I was very disappointed in the end. It was very daring for the use of giving the lead role to an actress that had never been in a movie before and while I understand the reasoning of using the actress they did because they would not have to use a stunt double for her as she had all of the abilities to do the action and fight sequences herself. While there were aspects that I greatly enjoyed the down moments in the movie really outweighed and brought Haywire down quite a bit.

 

Gina Carano in the role of Mallory Kane, CIA super agent whose journey we are taken on, does an admirable job for her first role. Carano was great in the action and fight sequences because of her mixed martial arts background. While her acting definitely has plenty of room for improvement, for the most part she held her own on screen and was a decent character that the audience could invest in. Ewan McGregor in the role of Kenneth, Kane's ex and business boss that helped set her up for murder, that she is being hunted by the U.S. Government. McGregor takes to the role of the villain perfectly and he really everything to make the audience despise him in the end. Michael Fassbender is the British agent who is tasked with the leg work of the setup of Mallory Kane. Fassbender is another one of those actors that is not only enjoyable to watch on the screen, but he has a great ability just like McGregor to either make the audience love his character or hater his character, depending on what his character's characteristics truly are. The supporting cast has its ups and downs and from that the cast helps at times. Channing Tatum is under utilized and from that the audience never cares for the conflict he has throughout the movie over Carano's character. Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas have their moments that are lacking only to follow it up with strong moments on screen.

 

The story for Haywire was truly lacking and is what in the end hurt the overall movie. Where a lot of times they try to use complex plots that in the end, it ends up working well with everything else. That is what the film makers for Haywire were definitely trying to accomplish with the story line. Unfortunately, for Haywire the complex attempts with the twists in the plot only served to confuse and muddle things up more then necessary. A simple story would have helped make Haywire a lot more enjoyable and simplifying it would have made the climax a lot more satisfying and fulfilling while allowing the audience to understand the outcome of the plot points a lot easier. The pacing was very back and forth because everything was really trying to set up for a great climax, but because of the pacing issues they totally rushed the climax and Haywire then kind of ended abruptly.

 

The action and fight sequences for Haywire are what really could have made the movie for Haywire had the story and plot been decent to understand. Carano was perfect for the fight sequences as she not only held her own, but showed that it was not implausible that she could truly fight her way out of most any situation and there are not many other actresses that could have pulled off these fight sequences with that much believability. One of the best sequences and I think most of the guys that saw the movie may have enjoyed it as much as I did was that of Carano simply wiping the floor with Channing Tatum's character and even putting him in a painful arm bar. All of the other fight and action sequences were very well choreographed and they played perfectly to Carano's strengths. I would have loved to see the action drive the movie more rather then trying to have the story drive the movie.

 

Haywire is one of those movies that I expected a lot more from after seeing the initial trailer. Carano in not only here first lead role, but first role in general she did alright with the acting, but it was truly clear that because of her MMA experience that is why they cast her in the role. The action sequences would have really made the movie had it not been for the failure of the complex story line and plot. All of the different plot points ended up muddling up the movie and doing more harm then good in the end. I am giving Haywire two and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is one of those movies that you can skip. If you want to watch a spy thriller I would recommend most any other spy thriller over Haywire.

 

-The Movie Man