Spy vs. Sigh

by Thomas Willett

11:00pm PST, January 25, 2012

For one reason or another, January is considered one of the worst months to release movies. Following what is considered awards season, the new selection provides forgettable fluff and incompetent action flicks. Coming off of his previous hit, Contagion, director Steven Soderbergh takes a stab at providing some fun entertainment for the masses with Haywire: a spy thriller throwback starring MMA fighter Gina Carano in her feature debut. With an experimental track record, does Soderbergh pull off the surprise smash?

The story follows a former black-ops super soldier named Mallory (Carano) as she seeks revenge against Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), the head of her division, who double-crosses her. The story takes place as she travels from Barcelona through Dublin to escape hit men that are out to kill her. The rest plays out as a traditional revenge film with numerous chase sequences set to a score by David Holmes that mixes aggressive tones with 70’s soul funk, creating a nostalgic feel to a fairly original story.

If there is one issue to be had with the plot, it’s that it doesn’t start off feeling important. While the build-up leads to a satisfying payoff, the first 40 minutes are spent developing more of a reputation than a character. The mystery to the film is treated as hidden subtext, which results in a hard to follow narrative. It presents Mallory getting into peril and solving her issues through impressive fight choreography often done in a continuing shot. While the action is thrilling, the story feels to be too reliant on the element of surprise.

The film is competently shot, and with an actual MMA fighter, the ability to do continuous action scenes helps give the movie an authentic feel. However, due to her lack of experience, Carano’s limited acting abilities keep her from crafting a compelling character. She manages to capture the menace needed to fight, but when the movie asks to sympathize, it results in a stilted performance. Luckily Soderbergh is aware of the limitations and doesn’t rely heavily on those moments to carry the film. It also helps that while the supporting cast (including Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender) is used sparingly, they contribute to the subdued feeling of the movie. No one outshines Carano, which is tragic at times. Due to a lack of developed antagonists, the threat feels somewhat removed.

Overall the movie is not terrible. It’s just a very slow paced albeit impressive effort for a January film. It doesn’t conform to the tropes and therefore allows for an authentic tone. It may not result in something captivating or high octane, but it shows Soderbergh experimenting with the genre and taking it into interesting directions. He doesn’t succeed in every shot, but when he captures the energy set in motion by Carano, it does provide a little promise for what the film could have been. This can be considered an understated spy thriller, where the more patient the viewer is, the more the payoff is enjoyed.

Haywire’s biggest achievement is its ability to stand out as an above average January release. While it won’t be remembered as more than a Soderbergh film, it’s all that it needs to be. Though it isn’t entirely ambitious in plot, its success in the action shows that some effort was put into this movie. Carano doesn’t really prove to be a lead actress, but is admired for the physicality she brings. Even with the movie lacking fun, interesting characters, it manages to take writer Lem Dobbs’s dull script and try their best to improve it. It rarely gets off the ground, but with a director that knows how to work with actors, there are some fun moments to be had. The issue is that there’s not enough.