I was excited about Haywire.  It boasted Steven Soderbergh, a great cast, a spy thriller AND a real badass woman.  Excitement seemed like an appropriate feeling.  But in reality, it turns out that all the separate pieces, while most are strong alone, as whole, they did not come together very well. Sad.

Soderbergh is starting to worry me (I was seriously disappointed in Contagion too) because although the action sequences were good they were not anything special and the story was a bit…boring. This is not a new idea–trained spy becomes the hunted–and you have to bring something unique to the table.  (Sidenote: The music was strangely upbeat and happy–it did not match the feel of the movie–at all! Weird choice.)  The supporting cast was indeed good–everyone playing their parts well–but, again nothing special and no real stand outs.  The spy thriller part was weak and I did not appreciate the over explanation of things (I hate being spoon fed).  And the badass woman? 

Well, Gina Carano is an amazing fighter and the fight scenes are the best part of movie because they are heavy and real–no sound effects or glossy moves. I can believe that she kicks ass–she is solid and appears powerful–I like that, a lot.  But, as an actress?  Ms. Carano is NOT amazing and by surrounding her with good actors, it only helps to magnify her shortcomings.  She is almost like the Terminator–no emotions show on her face–but at least with the Terminator it was intentional.  I would hope that was not the case this time!

 Oh well!  Another one bites the dust–hard–just like one of Ms. Carano’s opponents!