This movie is one of the biggest surprises. I was interested it as soon as it was made public that Gina Carano would star in it. I have been a Carano fans since her days in StrikeForce and wanted to see if she can make a successful transition to the movies, and not fall flat like so many other martial artists before her. Although I knew Soderbergh directed this one, I didn't think much of it, was simply hoping for a spy thriller with decent martial arts action. And then I read the reviews and saw the somewhat low rating and didn't really give it a shot. So 6 years have passed and I finally got to watching it, and boy, was I wrong to initially dismiss it. It might not have been in the vein as the Bourne movies, James Bond or almost any modern spy- covert ops movie, but the difference between most of those and Haywire is that Haywire looks stunningly authentic. The action scenes, especially the close quarters hand-to-hand combat is phenomenal. I knew Gina was chosen because of her MMA prowess, but she exceeds every expectation. All fight scenes are beautifully choreographed and make for an exciting experience. The other actors have done no less and tried to do as good as Gina, and it's visible.I fully enjoyed how Soderbergh presents a great number of longs shots without any background music, only small clicks and sounds straight from the environment, which further hypes the situation. I don't think I have ever seen a movie like this, that tries to create an atmosphere without bombastic music and sound effects, instead it just lets you watch the action and immerses you into it with great camera work, great storytelling and wonderful pacing. Watching this makes you present in the whole endeavor and the struggles of the protagonist. It seems shockingly authentic the entire time, which makes it really fascinating.I would recommend this to anyone who wants to enjoy a good movie, with a good premise and very stylized execution. I wasn't really aware this was a Soderbergh movie until the second long shot. His directing is really appropriate for this kind of movie. The supporting cast consists of Hollywood A-listers who can act and fight, which is a short list, but one that shines throughout the movie. Definitely worth a watch or two.

Haywire has Gina Carrano who is a private contracting secret agent who has a confrontation with colleague Channing Tatum at a diner which gets ugly when he tries to force her to go with him. A kid played by Michael gallantly intervenes and saves her. But he hardly realizes what he's gotten himself into.Turns out Carrano had just gotten home from missions in Barcelona and Dublin and it was in the latter she was set up for a murder. The only question is which of her colleagues betrayed her. As it turns out she was planning to leave the agency and someone thought she was expendable. Some retirement plan.Half the film is in flashback as Carrano tells her tale to her new ally Angerano and the other half trying to identify her betrayer.I wasn't terribly impressed with the film overall though it does have some moments. Things get a bit incoherent at times with the story. I did however love her final confrontation scene with her betrayer and how said betrayer meets his demise.Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas are in this and have the look of men happy their paychecks cleared.Not the best spy thriller out there.

After reading the appreciation of Steven Soderbergh on his website for the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, I always felt that his own spy movie Haywire (2011) was his answer to the biggest issue of the film: George Lazenby. He writes about Lazenby: "What seems obvious to me, though, is no one was helping him during the shoot or the edit" In his spy film Haywire, he gives the lead to an inexperienced actress (Gina Carano) and gets a good performance out of her (there were however some tweaks to her voice in post-production, but this is not an uncommon technique).The fight scenes are very much like the early James Bond movies such as From Russia With Love, Thunderball and of course On Her Majesty's Secret Service (there even is a beach fight scene).Other than the fight scenes and the globetrotting plot, Haywire is not very Bondian. It is more an update of the paranoid conspiracy movies from the seventies in Soderbergh style. The plot has a lot of twists and turns: a black ops agent is being setup for assassination.The other issue Soderbergh has with OHMSS is the length of 142 minutes: "the film is too long, the longest Bond film until Casino Royale nearly three decades later". Meanwhile Spectre (2015) has broken this record with 148 minutes. Haywire closes curtains very satisfying at 93 minutes.

In typical Soderbergh fashion, it takes a couple of viewings to sort out all of the plot's twists. It's easy to get left behind; the time shifts and the quiet moments of dialogue can trip up a viewer, but it's a slick little thriller. I happen to love Gina Carano in this role; maybe she's not the most flexible line-reader but in her character, it works, and she pulls off the action sequences beautifully. I also was amazed at the star power in the supporting roles. The soundtrack is excellent as well. In short, this is exactly the kind of spy thriller you'd expect from the guy who made Out Of Sight, Ocean's 11-13, Traffic, etc.