Haywire (即刻反擊)

It is a revenge thriller like “The Limey” (and comes from the same screenwriter, Lem Dobbs). It features a color-coded palette scheme to correspond with each new location in this globe-trotting tale, like “Traffic” (天人交戰). It has a '70s-style aesthetic sensibility reminiscent of “The Informant!” (爆料大師) It boasts an all-star cast like Soderbergh's “Ocean's” (瞞天過海) movies, “Full Frontal” (正面全裸) and, most recently, “Contagion” (全境擴散). But at its center is an actress who never had appeared in a major feature film before, like “The Girlfriend Experience” (應召女友) and “Bubble” (泡沫).

So since we are in the midst of making comparisons, we will just say that “Haywire” feels like minor Soderbergh: zippy, hugely entertaining and well-crafted as always (since he once again serves as his own cinematographer and editor), but not one of his more important films in the broad scheme of things.

It does, however, mark the auspicious film debut of MMA superstar Gina Carano as special-ops bad-ass Mallory Kane. Carano had never acted before, and not only did she do all her own stunts, she had to do them in a way that she wouldn't injure her male co-stars, including Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum. Her dialogue delivery may seem a bit stiff, and she has acknowledged that Soderbergh made some tweaks to her voice in post-production, but she has tremendous presence: an intriguing mix of muscular power and eye-catching femininity.

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