Saturday, January 21, 2012

Haywire


Plot: Mallory (Gina Carano) is a free-agent spy who works for a Blackwater-type spy contractor run by Kenneth (Ewan McGregor). She and Aaron (Channing Tatum) go to Barcelona to free a kidnapped journalist, and soon bad guys are trying to frame her for murdering the journalist. Mallory has to figure out what is going on, stay alive, and get revenge.  

Review: Haywire is a thriller with secret agents, and in a twist they work for private contractors rather than governments. In Haywire, like all modern spy stories, it is not clear who the bad guys are, and as the plot twists the loyalties of the characters become clear.  

The movie is well-made with good visual story telling, a fairly easy to follow plot, interesting characters that seem to actual motivations. 

I liked Haywire especially the on-foot chase scene in the middle. Toward the end, the climatic scenes did not build tension as they should, because Malloy becomes an aggressive killer as she gets revenge. The change from victim to killer reduced the suspense. 

Most action movie heroes can beat up a roomful of thugs easily, and Mallory is no different. It is refreshing that she actually looks tired after punching out people, and looked hurt after she fell off a building. Former American Gladiator Gina Carano looks like she can really fight,  but it seems like a stretch that she can beat up all these tough guys in a row.  

Part of Haywire is the empty morality of the characters. All this fighting is for more money for these contractor corporations --at least James Bond is trying to save the free-world.  I expect the lack of moral code is one of the themes the writer Lem Dobbs had in mind. 

Good soundtrack.

Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum

Directed by: Steven Soderberg

Rating:   3.0 - stars: fairly fun to watch, interesting characters, but it is just for fun, no morale. 
 minus

More:  Why is it called Haywire?

Even more: Haywire is rated "R," but there is no blood, no swearing, and no nudity, but there are a lot of guys getting kicked in the face.
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