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Alynda Wheat, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Soderbergh gives [Gina] Carano plenty of scenes to dazzle us with her skills... when it comes to the story, there's not much there. Michael Douglas has a nice, small turn... dramatic heft isn't really the point here." (Read the full review...) 169 words, 01/19/12 Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a formula caper pic with an indie vibe.... Carano is her own best stuntwoman, but in the dialogue scenes she's all kick and no charisma. The MMA battler lacks the conviction she so forcefully displayed in the ring." (Read the full review...) 1,192 words, 01/20/12 Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD (cg) "Soderbergh is smart enough to emphasize Carano's strengths. He lets the elaborate fight scenes play out -- lets us see every kick, punch and body slam... afterward you may feel as if you've been worked over as well. But in a good way." (Read the full review...) 616 words, 01/19/12 Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD (cg) "...taut and stylish... Bonus points for Carano's ability to do a headlock in an evening dress and stockings." (Read the full review...) 108 words, 01/19/12 Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD (cg) "...zippy and visually sophisticated, with tonal palettes color-coded (as in 'Traffic') to help make sense of time and place. But it zips to nowhere, fun only for those who agree to enjoy watching a woman inflict pain like a man..." (Read the full review...) 588 words, 01/20/12 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Soderbergh gives 'Haywire' B-movie oomph without sacrificing his fluid elegance.... the nonstop dazzle and momentum are boosted by frisky camerawork and editing by Soderbergh under the aliases of Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard (don't ask)." (Read the full review...) 412 words, 01/20/12 Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a vigorous spy thriller... Briskly paced action sequences are riveting, and Carano's charisma, physicality and daring keep the adrenaline high and the clashes captivating." (Read the full review...) 377 words, 01/20/12 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: VERY GOOD (cg) "A film like 'Haywire' has no lasting significance, but it's a pleasure to see an A-list director taking the care to make a first-rate genre thriller." (Read the full review...) 743 words, 01/20/12 James Rocchi, MSN Movies: EXCELLENT (cg) "One can only hope that 'Haywire' could become the indie (or, even, indie-er) rotating-director version of the ongoing, always-changing 'Mission: Impossible' franchise... Swift, stunning and its own reward for the risks Soderbergh and [lead Gina] Carano took." (Read the full review...) 800 words, 01/16/12 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD (cg) "This is not 'great' Soderbergh, regardless of whether one considers him as an auteur or a mass market entertainer. But it is 'good' Soderbergh, and that's more than enough. 'Haywire' is fun and I wouldn't mind seeing the next chapter in Mallory's adventures." (Read the full review...) 989 words, 01/18/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...goes to great lengths to avoid being about anything beyond its immediate situations and effects. It is self-consciously and aggressively trivial, a feast for formalists who sentimentalize the gloriously cheap B-movies of the past." (Read the full review...) 925 words, 01/20/12 Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...as much fun as it is to see her pummel McGregor and Fassbender (instead of throwaway stunt goons), 'Haywire' keeps Carano in check.... clean and no-fuss as it is, 'Haywire' needs more action scenes to match Carano's game." (Read the full review...) 445 words, 01/20/12 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...watching Carano kick, spin, flip, choke, crack and crush the fiercest of foes -- mostly men about twice her size -- is thoroughly entertaining, highly amusing and frankly somewhat awe-inspiring." (Read the full review...) 704 words, 01/20/12 Kyle Smith, New York Post: MODERATE (cg) "...a wannabe, or rather a wanna-B, and that B is for 'Bourne.' As each imitator comes and (rapidly) goes, my appreciation for the best superspy franchise deepens. Even top directors -- in this case Steven Soderbergh -- can't figure out the trick." (Read the full review...) 598 words, 01/20/12 Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD (cg) "...it's eccentric and the on-screen violence is sharp and exciting -- brutal without being either subhumanly sadistic or superhumanly ridiculous." (Read the full review...) 547 words, 01/20/12 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...coolly brutal and slyly funny.... Can Carano act? Not yet - she's more comfortable moving than talking. Nevertheless, she has an authentic tomboy persona that most action heroines lack." (Read the full review...) 293 words, 01/20/12 David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD "...perfectly enjoyable... Fassbender is striking (in both senses) as an Irish agent who might or might not have a hidden agenda.... he has never had a bedroom scene like the one he has with Gina Carano." (Read the full review...) 548 words, 01/23/12 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD (cg) "A film like 'Haywire' has no lasting significance, but it's a pleasure to see an A-list director taking the care to make a first-rate genre thriller." (Read the full review...) 743 words, 01/20/12 Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...puts the impact back into screen violence, brings it back to earth.... 'Haywire's' plot is boilerplate triple-cross, cloak-and-dagger stuff... a real war-of-the-sexes tournament, briskly paced with a tickling sense of black humor." (Read the full review...) 707 words, 01/18/12 Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD (cg) "[Soderbergh] may be making just a genre film, but he's fully in command and evidently enjoying himself.... The enthusiasm is infectious -- but watch out for flying feet." (Read the full review...) 581 words, 01/20/12 Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Hand it to a wily indie veteran like Soderbergh to find a fresh twist to an old genre: The fighting isn't faked, but the acting is." (Read the full review...) 614 words, 01/20/12 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT (cg) "...turns the most generic of action plots into a meditation on what we want from action movies.... The action choreography is rough and graceless, which makes it feel real..." (Read the full review...) 334 words, 01/19/12
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD (cg) "One of the reasons 'Haywire' is such a pleasure to watch is that its director, Steven Soderbergh, doesn't overplay the film's hear-me-roar subversions.... he approaches his first foray into pure action with the same evenhanded cool he lends to every genre he has ever tackled." (Read the full review...) 576 words, 01/20/12 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD (cg) "...the globe-hopping spy vehicle Steven Soderbergh has built around his charismatic new leading lady is, from start to finish, serious fun. Disarmingly laid back for this kind of fare, with a jazzy musical score..." (Read the full review...) 512 words, 01/20/12 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD (cg) "...the conventions of the genre -- spoon-feeding exposition to the audience, fancy getaway driving -- are given their due and roundly spoofed at the same time. Capable people worked on this and did not squander their talent." (Read the full review...) 417 words, 01/20/12 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD (cg) "Soderbergh plays with the action genre by planting a real fighter in the role of butt-kicking protagonist... Carano kicks butt, plain and simple. Thanks to the chance Soderbergh takes with her, 'Haywire' pretty much does, as well." (Read the full review...) 639 words, 01/20/12 Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD (cg) "...the pleasure of this small, eccentric movie is the natural way Carano hurts people - by, say, walking partway up a wall and climbing onto a man's back, by sprinting toward the camera and flying into the human target standing in the foreground." (Read the full review...) 677 words, 01/20/12 Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD (cg) "...shows off Carano's breathtaking fight skills. And maybe, just maybe, reveals the beginnings of a new bare-knuckle star." (Read the full review...) 510 words, 01/20/12 Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD (cg) "...you don't love movies if the sight of Gina Carano beating up every guy in sight doesn't make you laugh, get happy and feel as if you're getting your money's worth." (Read the full review...) 622 words, 01/20/12 Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD (cg) "Soderbergh directs with his usual jittery energy -- fast, jagged editing; time-jumping; color melting into black-and-white and back again -- all set to a jazzy David Holmes score, reminiscent of his music for the director's 'Ocean's 11.' " (Read the full review...) 361 words, 01/20/12 Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT (cg) "Movies like this are usually bombastic and clamorous. But not 'Haywire'... it feels like somebody turned down the volume on a hard rock album so as to hear the details better -- for which relief, much thanks." (Read the full review...) 213 words, 01/20/12 Roger Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Who knew the new Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and Jet Li would be a woman?" (Read the full review...) 428 words, 01/20/12 Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...an arty grindhouse flick... The plot is a flimsy excuse for mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano to do what she does best -- and it isn't acting." (Read the full review...) 409 words, 01/20/12 Adam Graham, Detroit News: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a crafty thriller that works to undo beat-em-up clichés. In short, it's a livewire." (Read the full review...) 360 words, 01/20/12 Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: MODERATE (cg) "...a rote exercise in action filmmaking... sleek and polished and instantly evaporates from memory.... Once you get over the novelty of watching mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano beat up her male co-stars, the film has practically nothing else to offer." (Read the full review...) 505 words, 01/20/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...puts the impact back into screen violence, brings it back to earth.... 'Haywire's' plot is boilerplate triple-cross, cloak-and-dagger stuff... a real war-of-the-sexes tournament, briskly paced with a tickling sense of black humor." (Read the full review...) 707 words, 01/18/12 Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: EXCELLENT (cg) "...as a new spin on what seemed like an exhausted genre, and an introduction for many of us to the force of nature that is [Gina] Carano, 'Haywire' is that kind of Soderberghian fun that comes with cinematic wit and plenty of surprises." (Read the full review...) 597 words, 01/18/12 Thomas Page McBee, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Steven Soderbergh clearly phoned it in here." (Read the full review...) 151 words, 01/26/12 Scott Tobias, AV Club: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...simply a delivery system for ass-kickings, calibrated to the specific talents of Gina Carano... It's [screenwriter Lem Dobbs] and Soderbergh's idea of lizard-brain entertainment, and its pleasures are remarkably distilled." (Read the full review...) 394 words, 01/19/12 Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: EXCELLENT (cg) "...the best kind of action film: One in which we're actually granted the pleasure of watching bodies move.... When Soderbergh does action, less is more. He's more interested in watching Carano, and he's betting we will be, too..." (Read the full review...) 1,017 words, 01/19/12 R. Kurt Osenlund, Slant: MODERATE (cg) "Soderbergh finally gets his Luc Besson fanboy on... It may sound enticing, but it's all aloof propulsion, and like 'Contagion,' it's ultimately inconsequential." (Read the full review...) 689 words, 01/14/12 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT (cg) "...turns the most generic of action plots into a meditation on what we want from action movies.... The action choreography is rough and graceless, which makes it feel real..." (Read the full review...) 334 words, 01/19/12 Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK (cg) "Soderbergh and Carano seem like great partners at the beginning of 'Haywire,' but the film's purpose makes a clean getaway." (Read the full review...) 515 words, 01/25/12 MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: MODERATE (cg) "There's a lot of fight in 'Haywire,' but very little punch -- it starts to feel very grim and plodding very soon, as if [screenwriter Lem] Dobbs and Soderbergh soon realized they were spinning their action-flick wheels and that it wasn't very much fun." (Read the full review...) 727 words, 01/16/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: EXCELLENT "There's no deeper meaning to Steven Soderbergh's thriller than what meets the eye, yet its lustrous surfaces offer great and guilt-free pleasure." (Read the full review...) 483 words, 01/20/12 A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...goes to great lengths to avoid being about anything beyond its immediate situations and effects. It is self-consciously and aggressively trivial, a feast for formalists who sentimentalize the gloriously cheap B-movies of the past." (Read the full review...) 925 words, 01/20/12 David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a divertissement; it's lightweight and almost meaningless except for the fights, which are extraordinarily violent." (Read the full review...) 210 words, 01/23/12 Ian Buckwalter, NPR: EXCELLENT "Carano's got an all-star cast of talented actors around her to carry the dramatic load; that leaves her to perfectly execute the part that was created for her. To see what she's capable of here is to witness the birth of the next great action hero." (Read the full review...) 688 words, 01/19/12 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...watching Carano kick, spin, flip, choke, crack and crush the fiercest of foes -- mostly men about twice her size -- is thoroughly entertaining, highly amusing and frankly somewhat awe-inspiring." (Read the full review...) 704 words, 01/20/12 Dana Stevens, Slate: FAIR "...curiously unengaging.... I started to lose patience with Soderbergh's apparent certainty that no audience could get enough of watching Carano's motionless face in close-up." (Read the full review...) 600 words, 01/19/12 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: VERY GOOD "Arguably this movie amounts to less than the sum of its parts -- but hot damn, those are some parts.... There's no question that Soderbergh is a supremely talented craftsman of cinema." (Read the full review...) 948 words, 01/19/12
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD "Steven Soderbergh's action-filmmaking chops get a swift, vigorous 92-minute workout in 'Haywire.' So, too, does Gina Carano, a coolly charismatic mixed-martial-arts star plucked from the relative obscurity of televised cage matches to play a skilled assassin on the run from powerful men who want her dead." (Read the full review...) 965 words, 11/07/11 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "...a kick-ass international action romp toplining mixed martial arts star Gina Carano as a covert operative who proceeds to whup a succession of macho leading men in addition to assorted anonymous foes; she's Pepper to Angelina's 'Salt.' " (Read the full review...) 979 words, 11/07/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...watching Carano kick, spin, flip, choke, crack and crush the fiercest of foes -- mostly men about twice her size -- is thoroughly entertaining, highly amusing and frankly somewhat awe-inspiring." (Read the full review...) 704 words, 01/20/12 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: EXCELLENT (cg) "...a globe-trotting spy thriller, with some gripping plot and relatable characters... unfolds as a series of highly enjoyable, ultra-dynamic action pieces... Soderbergh is nothing if not an efficient and versatile director. If my count is correct, 'Haywire' is his 25th feature..." (Read the full review...) 644 words, 01/12/12 A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...goes to great lengths to avoid being about anything beyond its immediate situations and effects. It is self-consciously and aggressively trivial, a feast for formalists who sentimentalize the gloriously cheap B-movies of the past." (Read the full review...) 925 words, 01/20/12 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: EXCELLENT "There's no deeper meaning to Steven Soderbergh's thriller than what meets the eye, yet its lustrous surfaces offer great and guilt-free pleasure." (Read the full review...) 483 words, 01/20/12
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