Originally Posted by
brevity
Jason's review was the push I needed to venture to the theater and grumble about how expensive even matinee ticket prices have become.
Right, the movie. Unmistakably Steven Soderbergh. Hard to explain why, exactly. The style reminded me mostly of Out of Sight and partially Ocean's Twelve. The music, the editing cuts, the lighting, the tone... all instantly familiar. I got into it immediately. I guess there's a Bourne element here, and it certainly feels like a franchise is being kickstarted, albeit a much lighter one.
I found Gina Carano's character to be plausible, even when the action gets a bit silly toward the end. Questioning her acting ability is pointless when you have a director who encourages naturalism to the point that actors and non-actors are indistinguishable. She does fine. I will say that she excels at movie fighting, which is not the same as professional fighting, and in the Dublin rooftop scenes I decided I wouldn't mind following her around for another hour.
Watching the fight scenes -- there are two in particular that come to mind -- I decided that there are two kinds of ways to depict a man fighting a woman.
1. Unrealistic: this is sort of Joss Whedon's stock in trade. Choose an 85-pound actress like Sarah Michelle Gellar or Summer Glau, who has no business beating up men 3 times her size. It's cartoonish. You suspend your disbelief and feel somewhat entertained.
2. Realistic: in this regard, Haywire reminded me a little bit of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The man and woman who were fighting appeared more evenly matched. (There was a time when Angelina Jolie didn't have emaciated old-lady hands and arms.) On one level I can appreciate this as a better form of movie action, but at the same time it reminds me of domestic violence. I felt both impressed and uncomfortable.
The plot is a bit nonsensical -- when the Big Bad is revealed, what was his motivation, exactly? Also, Ewan McGregor is miscast, with terrible hair. But it was a brisk and interesting film overall. Soderbergh Lite is still Soderbergh, which makes it better than most movies out there. (If I had to pick a favorite director, it would probably be him, and I'll be a little sad when he retires in the next year or so.)