Haywire

As the story goes, director Steven Soderbergh became so impressed with raven-haired Gina Carano while watching women's mixed martial arts on TV's American Gladiators that he decided to develop a grim revenge thriller, casting the fighter as a globetrotting lethal operative. Introduced in a prologue during a confrontation with another hired assassin (Channing Tatum), Mallory Kane (Carano) is a freelance black-ops agent who seeks vengeance after being double-crossed. Working for a shadowy, private sector agency run by nerdy ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), Mallory is sought after by high-placed government operative Coblenz (Michael Douglas). A specialist in international intrigue, Mallory's previous covert assignment—to rescue a kidnapped Chinese dissident held hostage in Barcelona—went terribly wrong, as she relates to Scott (Michael Angarano), whose car she's hijacked. Revealed in a flashback, that fiasco is somehow connected with a Dublin hotel brawl with a suspicious client (Michael Fassbender). Not surprisingly, Mallory is now paranoid, and the only person she trusts is her ex-Marine-turned-fiction writer dad (Bill Paxton). Although she evinces little acting talent, Carano's physical presence puts her in a kick-ass warrior category with Uma Thurman and Angelina Jolie, as she brings her MMA skills to an inordinate number of action-packed street/alley chase sequences. Unfortunately, there's not a shred of humor to be found amidst the ferocious, senseless, and ultimately tedious mayhem and violence on display here. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Gina Carano in Training” featurette with the star (16 min.), “The Men of Haywire” featurette on costars including Channing Tatum and Ewan McGregor (6 min.), and trailers. Blu-ray extras include a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a brainless action film.] (S. Granger)