Haywire (3½ Stars)

Mallory Kane is employed by an unnamed private company that does jobs for the American government. It's an organisation that does things America isn't allowed to do itself, things it would like to deny responsibility for. In this case Mallory travels to Spain to free a Chinese informer who is being held by Basque separatists. Unfortunately Mallory is set up. The informer is killed, and she is given the blame. She has to flee across Spain, Ireland, England, Canada and America, pursued both by her former colleagues and good cops.

This isn't a bad film. As far as the action and suspense goes it's quite good. And look at all the big name actors in it: Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender. But something is missing. The film doesn't have that certain magic that makes me jump up and shout about it. That's the magic that I look for in every film I watch. It might be a Hollywood blockbuster, it might be an indie film with unknown actors, it might even be an erotic comedy. Either a film has the magic or it doesn't. In cases where the magic is missing it's often difficult to say where the blame falls. In this film it's easy to point a finger. The film's weak link is the lead character, Gina Carano, who plays Mallory Kane. As another reviewer has written, she's "all kick and no charisma".

So who is Gina Carino? She has a successful career behind her as a Mixed Martial Artist (MMA). She appeared in "American Gladiators". She's now retired from fighting and has decided to follow a career in films. In many ways she's a perfect action heroine. She can jump around the room beating up men as fast as they attack her. I'm almost certain she does all her own stunts. But as I said before, she's "all kick and no charisma". When she talks she's boring. When she performs a love scene she seems awkward. She can't win my sympathy as a viewer. Maybe she'll improve over the next few years. I hope so. She's one of the favorites to play Wonder Woman in a future DC film. If she can learn to act better she'll be a good choice.