I was very excited to see form Muay Thai & MMA Champ Gina Carano secure a leading role in a martial arts action movie. She has the look and the skill – and definitely the potential.
Unfortunately the movie itself was a bit of dudd in my opinion. The soundtrack and general feel of the movie made it kind of boring and a little hard to follow at times.
Basically you’ve got Mallory (Gina Carano), a black ops soldier who handles jobs the US Government can’t. She gets betrayed by her team during (and after) a mission and is forced to run and figure out exactly what’s going on. She picks up the pieces slowly and and tracks down those who betrayed her, exacting her revenge through out the movie.
Using her specialised skill set, the help of a young guy named Scott and her father to outwit her pursuers she plans her next move. She stays a step ahead the whole time, and often uses her superior martial arts skills to take out anyone who tries to stop or capture her.
A Top Line up of Actors
There are some very talented actors in this film, and I feel the acting itself was performed well by every single one of them. You’ve got Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Angarano, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender (think the young Magneto from X-Men First Class!) to name a few. But the real stand out is still Gina Carano.
Being the main character it’s hard not to follow her story, but she does have good presence on the screen and her physical talents really steal the show.
I think the problem really lies in the overall storytelling. For an action movie there’s just too much going on and no clear link between all of it, which makes it hard for the actors to really shine – and they can’t carry the whole movie. Although I could follow the movie, at times it was just frustrating to watch as the lack of action really sunk the ship.
I personally think that the director/editor was a bit hesistant to rely on Carano’s fighting / acting and forced out a pretty ordinary storyline.
Gina Carano’s Acting
With a background like Carano’s (MMA and Muay Thai) you know she has the goods with the fighting, but she also has the look. Honestly if I didn’t already know of her I’d think she was just a new and upcoming actor, she seemed to perform pretty naturally.
I did read that her voice was dubbed which is somewhat disappointing. But much like the Austrian Oak (Arnold Schwarzenegger – was dubbed in Hercules in New York
), I think this will prove to be temporary and she’ll secure more roles and be able to use her own voice.
The Martial Arts and Fight Scenes
Few and far between, a little too quick but extremely well done.
Gina Carano makes MMA work in this movie very well. Credit must be given to who was in charge of shooting the action, as Caranos skills were caught in a way that made them a pleasure to watch (plus she’s easy on the eyes herself!). I think if the shots and editing were poor, MMA can look very stale in a movie – so I think that’s one thing they got absolutely right.
The strikes are hard hitting, the groundwork is really smooth and the overall pace is top notch and fits the movie perfectly. She even uses a few moves that are more flash than the standard MMA strikes. My only complaint is that they are over far too quickly – Give us more!! 🙂
Carano also demonstrates a a good range of physical skills outside of the fighting. He ability to climb and manouveure on the roof tops seems to be very natural and she is believable when holding a gun – she’s a true action movie actress with all of the skills and has some awesome potential for future films. She defintiely made this movie.
Would I recommend it?
I’m on the fence. While I personally didn’t enjoy this movie, I’m glad I watched it – also this movie may be perfect for certain people. They defintely went for a certain style that doesn’t appeal to some but will to others so I’d still consider checking it out if you haven’t.
If only one reason gets you to watch this movie – make it to see Carano’s first leading role and on screen fighting skills – they’ll be a thing of the future! I can’t wait to see them step up the quality in her next film ‘In the Blood’ – hopefully they extend her action sequences and give her the screen time she deserves!
Either way, while I’m not a fan of this flick you may be! It’s just not for me.
Find it on Blu-Ray
Region A (US & Canada)
Haywire on Blu-ray
Region B (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, etc)
Haywire on Blu-ray
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Haywire on DVD
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Haywire on DVD
Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
Haywire on DVD
or Watch it online here
(US & Canada)
