Haywire - 3 smiles

If you’re a fan of action movies (like me), you’re going to enjoy “Haywire,” directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring mixed martial arts star Gina Carano.” And what a pleasure seeing a woman in a role that Jason Statham usually plays, watching her kick lots of butt. Carano plays Mallory Kane, a freelance contractor trained by the CIA, who takes a job to extract a Chinese dissident being held hostage in Spain. Soderbegh surrounds Carano with an amazing cast of supporting actors. There’s Ewan McGregor, her shifty boss; Michael Fassbender, the British operative she teams with in Barcelona; Michael Douglas, a shadowy bigwig, Antonio Banderas, a jet-setting badie. Bill Paxton plays Mallory’s Marine Corps veteran dad.

The movie opens in snowy New England with Mallory Kane (Carano) on the run. She stops at a roadside diner to catch her breath when someone she knows walks in (Channing Tatum). Although he seems like a friend, they’re soon fighting and Mallory is on the run again with bystander Scott (Michael Angarano) and using his car in the getaway. He wants to know what’s happening so in flashback narrative, Mallory tells her tale. To be sure, there’s a lot of double and triple crosses and close-quarters combat before her story is finished. “Haywire” isn’t deep and Carano’s line recitation could use a bit more energy, but she has presence and grace under fire, making for a memorable action heroine. And Soderbergh delivers some highly entertaining, well-choreographed fight scenes. If studios must make sequels, they should consider “Haywire.” 1/21/12