Haywire (2012):

Starring:

Gina Carano - Mallory Kane

Ewan McGregor - Kenneth

Channing Tatum - Aaron

Michael Douglas - Coblenz

Antonio Banderaz - Rodrigo

Bill Paxton - John Kane

Michael Angarano - Scott

Michael Fassbender - Paul

Director:
Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11,12 & 13; Traffic; Erin Brockovich)

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Flixster: 40%

Synopsis:

In Haywire, an electrifying tale of espionage and betrayal, a female covert ops specialist (Carano), who works in the deadly world of international operatives, strikes back after discovering she's been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency.

Review:

For once a film director, who was looking for an action lead did the opposite of what most do which is cast an actress in an action role & then teach her to be an action actress. Instead Soderbergh went the opposite direction with it & cast MMA fighter Gina Carano who obviously could do the action side of the role & they would attempt to teach her the acting side. Well FAILURE. Sure Gina is a  somewhat successful MMA fighter, super HOT! but attempting to teach her to be an intense & overpowering lead actress is an epic failure of Russians teaching dogs to fly spacecraft proportions. Poor monotoned Gina, saying her lines as if she was reading them off a teleprompter ala Saturday Night Live. Her fight scenes are unique & incorporate her back ground in Muai Thai fighting & are much different than other actions films starring a woman lead. Once you get past the unfortunate acting of Gina, you have a who's who of incredible supporting cast. Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas & Antonio Banderas with a giant old man beard are a great supporting cast that does a good job of keeping the plot & acting relevant & interesting. Bill Paxton is great as Carano's farther & is a good acting compliment to her poor acting ability. I also swear that this will be one of the last Fassbender films I review for a time, I swear, unless he's in something important in theaters I need to see. The plot was an average, maybe sometimes below average spy thriller but without the intriguing story or text. It was quite confusing & hard to follow for the first hour, it's very hard to understand whom is on what side & whom is trying to kill whom. It also doesn't help that is flashes back & forth throughout which adds to the confusion.

46%

Main Acting: 4/15

Supporting Cast: 7/15

Plot: 5/10

Compared To Genre: 5/10

Cinematography: 10/20

Intrigue: 5/10

Extra: 10/20