TRAILER: Gina proves the female is more deadly than the male (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

TRAILER: Gina proves the female is more deadly than the male

8:54am Friday 20th January 2012 in Film Reviews By Damon Smith

HAYWIRE (15, 92 mins) ***
Starring Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, Bill Paxton, Anthony Brandon Wong. Director: Steven Soderbergh

Haphazard and frenetic by name, Haywire is a coolly- assured and breathlessly- choreographed action thriller that has been tailored to the dazzling athletic prowess of its leading lady.

Harking from a mixed martial arts background, Gina Carano is 5ft 8in of pure muscle and dynamism, who scythes through stunt sequences with breathtaking speed and power.

Freelance gun-for-hire Mallory Kane (Carano) is one of the best in the business, keeping a cool head when the rest of her team panic during a bungled operation in Barcelona to rescue a kidnapped Chinese journalist (Wong).

Her handler, Kenneth (McGregor), accepts a job from the enigmatic Rodrigo (Banderas) and dispatches Mallory to Dublin, where she must pose as the wife of fellow assassin Paul (Fassbender) and neutralise a high-profile asset.

However, the mission is fatally compromised and Mallory discovers that her friends have betrayed her, marking her for death.

She questions who to trust, even her former lover and accomplice, Aaron (Tatum).

Mallory’s father, military man John Kane (Paxton), inspires her to exact a brutal and bloody revenge, but there are powerful men working against his daughter including the well-connected Coblenz (Douglas).

For adrenaline junkies, the film delivers. However, all of the thrills come at the expense of plot, characterisation and emotion.