Haywire: Hit Me With Its Best Shot

I must say that I am quite enjoying this emergence of arty action flicks of late. Both Drive and Hanna ended up on my 'Best of' list last year, and Steven Sodenbergh's Haywire earns a place right alongside them.

This is one hell of a classy thriller that has tons of style, and sure knows how to scrap. Gina Carano is a true find. With this role she can turn on the charm one moment and then tussle with the big boys (Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor) the next. The fact that she is incredibly attractive certainly doesn't hurt either.

Speaking of the fight scenes... This one manages to get it right where so many others have failed. The camera stays still, no shaking, no quick cuts, no pumped up music, in fact these scenes are totally silent until a thrown punch manages to connect and the sound of impact is brutally realistic. Most of these fights even manage to pop up and surprise the viewer when you least expect them to.

I enjoyed this film on about the same level as I enjoyed Soderbergh's The Limey. Another film that is incredibly slick, feels familiar without being identical to any number of action films, and is able to tell its entire disjointed revenge tale in about 90 minutes. You'll go in expecting one film and come out feeling you've seen something else, something better than it should have been. A-