HAYWIRE (USA 2011) ***
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

HAYWIRE is very similar to last year’s HANNA in which a girl with superb martial arts skill goes into hiding but still has to fight her way out of trouble by kicking and warding off countless bad guys.  HAYWIRE is directed by Steven Soderbergh, which alone is reason enough to view the film.

HAYWIRE is a lesser film compared to HANNA which achieves so much more in terms of its limitations especially in plot and story.  Both films, oddly enough share a father element, which both female characters have a great respect for.  Both films are action packed, with lots of fight scenes that should more than satisfy action fans.  HAYWIRE stars Gina Carano, a MMA (mixed-martial arts champion), so the fight scenes are guaranteed authentic.

The story concerns a freelance covert operative Mallory Kane (Carano), hired out by her handler, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) to various global entities to perform jobs that governments can’t authorize and heads of state would rather not know about. After a mission to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, Mallory is quickly dispatched on another mission to Dublin, Ireland.  When the operation goes awry and Mallory finds she has been double crossed, she needs to use all of her skills, tricks, and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.

The story allows shooting primarily in Dublin.  Those who have visited the Irish capital will see familiar sights of not only the city but the gorgeous seaside where a quite ridiculous fight occurs between Carano and McGregor.

The filmmakers have assembled a more than impressive cast, mostly playing guys at loggerheads with our female heroine.  This includes Michael Fassbender, who has a terrific fight sequence with Carano in the hotel bedroom, Channing Tatum (with him, a fight in a restaurant), Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas.

Like HANNA, HAYWIRE suffers from an over simplified plot, but Soderbergh stretches the story offering only a few clues at the time, keeping the audience guessing why Mallory Kane is being double-crossed.  Soderbergh is an experienced director (TRAFFIC, CONTAGION, KAFKA, THE INFORMANT!) who has made both big Hollywood blockbusters and art films.  He paces this film exacting drama, excitement and suspense at the appropriate moments.

HAYWIRE is Soderbergh’s biggest action project.  Still, one wishes Soderbergh would have done an action film with a plot different from HANNA, as that film is still fresh in many audience’s minds.