If Steven Soderbergh is to be believed, then the man is wrapping up his directorial career in fine style.
Recently we saw a trailer for his virus outbreak thriller Contagion, which has an awesome cast and concept behind it. Now we get a trailer for his action thriller Haywire. It looks like a very interesting film. The trailer cleverly gives away a lot but it doesn’t tell you very much about the narrative.
Soderbergh seems to be cottoning on to the wave of female action heroes with the rebirth of Nikita and the popularity of Lisbeth Salander, by casting Gina Carano in the lead female role.
It looks to be a fairly kick-ass and fun ride. Soderbergh really has a smart style for this kind of Hollywood blockbuster and occasionally does it to great effect. Take for example Ocean’s Eleven, which was a formulaic movie but was crafted with such flair that it became unique and extremely entertaining. Haywire looks to be very similar to that brand of Soderbergh and that pleases me as a regular cinema-goer. I know I’m going to get a film of unique workmanship, that is slick and effective.
The cast is also rounded out with an impeccable display of talented actors. Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas are all big names on the film’s roster who look to be doing a fine job here. It’s an impressive cast, especially considering how much of a high concept film this looks to be.
Haywire has been pushed back from an original 2011 release date to an early 2012 date in January. The screenplay is written by Lem Dobbs who previously worked with Soderbergh on The Limey – a very tight, underrated thriller.
With this pedigree, I’m very excited to see Haywire once it finally hits theatres.