Haywire – 2.5/5 – Movie Reviews by RY!

 
Haywire – 2.5/5 – Movies about espionage have always been either thrilling or dull.  For most of them out there, even when there are some faults and far-fetch plots and scenarios, they can be entertaining.  Sometimes though, movies of this style can fall flat and be disappointing.  This particular film is one that, starts with great promise like most spy thrillers, but falls to the wayside and becomes a flat and comical use of all action movies of this style. Haywire is a movie of great potential, but becomes utterly disappointing by the ending credits.

The movie follows the black ops agent of Mallory Kane (Gina Carano).  She is a Freelance covert operative who is hired out by her handler to various global entities to perform jobs which are held in secrecy.  After a mission to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, Mallory is quickly dispatched on another mission to Dublin. When that operation goes awry, Mallory finds she has been double crossed.  She will need to use all of her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt and make it back to the United States, protect her family and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.  With the acting in this film, it borderlines on being dull upon the screen as it just felt wooden to the common movie watcher.  From the main actress (who is not an actress but an MMA fighter) to some of the most notable actors seen throughout the film (Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderas) you feel cheated and disappointed by what they brought to their roles.  They don’t provide any depth to the characters in the film, and the staunchness of what you see is common archetypes you can find in better spy films (Bourne Series, James Bond, etc.).  There isn’t much to expect from the rest of the side characters as they are nothing more than just puppets to amplify just fight scenes.  There is a lot of wasted talent here to just showcase action scenes.

With the direction of this film, it is just a chain of events to showcase the fighting Of Gina’s trained MMA skills.  The story is mostly derived of any common spy thriller, as the main character is on the run to prove the truth for the lying conspirators.  When the twist becomes obvious, you are brought to only care more about the action scenes, and nothing else in the movie.  This is where the strength comes into play, as the fighting isn’t typical of most action movies.  These typical action scenes may see in other movies are either ‘over-the-top’ or ‘explosion heavy’.  Here, there is showcase to a realer hand-to-hand combat scenario, as well as a showcase on real moves you would see in everyday life.  You will be entertained when the fighting happens, but that is the only part where it is entertaining.

The cinematography is wonderful, as it showcases many international locales.  You are witness to many places in Europe, as well as America.  This helps compliment the fighting, as well as bring flavor to the action scenes.  The score is also good, as it helps bring a subtle rawness to and otherwise clichéd filled movie.

Overall, this movie is a common, unapologetic waste of film talent on a trivial written story.  Everything you see here you’ve seen in every espionage movie, minus the real and raw combative action scenes.  The cinematography is great, and provides some depth, and the score helps add vividness to the action.  I wouldn’t recommend anyone watching this, unless you like action movies.  I’d say check it out as a TV special, not a recommended purchase.

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