Haywire (2011)

411 Review
Haywire (barely) tells the story of Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), a black ops soldier who seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Contagion, Traffic), Haywire does little to diversify his oeuvre: narrative disjuncture stands in for plot, there are enough characters to fill the cast of Ocean’s Thirteen (another Soderbergh film) and character development is subservient to style. The muddled politics of the film never cohere in any interesting way, nor do they really matter. What does matter is Gina Carano.

Carano reminds me of Angelina Jolie—not the emaciated, glamorized Jolie of today, but the tough and unapologetic Jolie of Gone in 60 Seconds. The pointedly unglamorized Carano hits, kicks, and wrestles her way through this film, and there is never a moment when you do not believe that she is capable of taking out numerous men with a few well-timed jabs. She is not given much dialogue, action heroes are not known for their loquaciousness, but when she threatens someone, you know she can, and will, follow through.

The supporting characters are banal and, this being Soderbergh, everyone is in this film—Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbinder (giving the only interesting performance). Channing Tatum, as Mallory’s quasi-romantic interest and special ops colleague Aaron, is woefully bad, his looks and acting skills both on par with a plastic G. I. Joe action figure. Fortunately, while the characters are stock and the film’s plot is overly complicated and quite dull, the editing is spectacular. Soderbergh allows the camera to be still so we can enjoy watching Carano beat up the bad guys—there is no rapid cutting or obnoxious rock song to distract from the fighting.

101 Review
Unlike the emaciated, muscle-less, sexualized female action heroes of today—Jolie as Lara Croft, the “new” Charlie’s Angels, Kate Beckinsale in Underworld, Zoe Saldana in, well, anything—Carano is never sexualized or objectified. She wears jeans, t-shirts (in adult sizes, not kid sizes), a leather jacket and shoes she can run in. When she is glamorized for an undercover mission, her black cocktail dress is conservative and elegant. When she has sex, we see her initiating the encounter with her colleague, but we never see her remove her clothes or have sex. The most provocative shot is of Mallory, in loose fitting yoga clothes,stretching—a shot that has the same impact as the first shot of Jolie as Sway in Gone in 60 Seconds. It marks Mallowry as hot and desirable, but on her terms—terms you better follow or she will kick your ass.

Twice, I lost track of Carano, both times when she was chasing a bad guy. These scenes are shot from overhead. In her jeans, leather jacket, hat, boots and, most importantly, with her broad shoulders and muscular arms, I could not tell for a moment who was who, since both her and the bad buy were muscular and clothed similarly. This is a refreshing change from the usual female action heroes, always immediately identifiable by their hot shorts and impossibly skinny arms. Carano is utterly believable as an action hero, her physique, understated acting and history as a MMA fighter ensuring that there is no suspension of disbelief when she beats up bad guys, drives the hell out of a car, handles firearms or coolly steps off her motorcycle.

Two limits of the film: first, the film’s focus on the relationship between Mallory and her father, Mr. Kane (Bill Paxton), is typical of female action films (Lara Croft and her father, the Angels and patriarch Charlie, Colombiana and her father…) which feminize and domesticate the female action hero by showing her loyalty to, and idolization of, her father (never, ever does the female action hero have a mother). The second limit is that Carano is the only woman in this film; sure there is a server at the diner, but Mallory has no female colleagues (that we see) or friends. Another lone woman hero with a father fixation? Well, at least this one is clothed. Lets hope for a sequel—and a few athletic, strong women for Mallory to interact with.