Film review: Haywire (three out of five stars)

(15) 93mins

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender

WITH a top class bunch of ‘supporting’ actors, this is worth checking out just for their performances.

But it has so much more to offer.

The direction harks back to those gritty thrillers of the 60s and 70s and then there is Gina Carano playing the lead.

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Ms Carano was better known as a martial arts fighter and as Crush on the American TV series Gladiators - possibly not the best CV for an aspiring actress.

But you have to give her full credit, although not called to show a vast range of emotions she certainly doesn’t look out of place among the likes of Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender.

She plays Mallory, working for a private company run by McGregor which carries out a range of secret black ops missions for governments.

However, after one mission she finds herself on the wrong end of an assasination attempt and has to find out why she’s become the target.

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Director Soderbergh has his own distinctive style (Solaris, Che parts one and two, Traffic, Contagion) and he impresses with this project.

His use of music is particuarly good.

During one covert operation Mallory is sent on there is no dialogue and for the most part no sound effects, just a powerful score.

The colour is subdued somewhat and Soderbergh isn’t afraid to take the camera into some strange angles.

Of course it’s rather sad, but many people will be interested in the movie for its dramatic fight sequences that feature in the trailer.

However, there is an attempt to make them realistic - in fact more like the martial arts punch-ups Ms Carano is used to.

Steve Payne

Screening courtesy of Cineworld Crawley

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