“Haywire” is an action film written by Lem Dobbs and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Gina Carano stars as Mallory Kane, a freelance member of a private firm employed by the American government. On what was to be her final job, things go haywire when her former firm attempts to have her killed. Kane is forced to go on the run, unsure of who is friend and who is foe, and hunt down the ones that betrayed her.

This is a film jam-packed with fantastic actors including Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum and Michael Douglas. The supporting cast is incredibly solid as well, with Michael Fassbender and Bill Paxton (“Game over man, GAME OVER!“) inhabiting minor roles.

While Gina Carano isn’t a particularly charismatic actress, her character was never intended to be charismatic. Women have been stars of countless action films, but “Haywire” is different in that it never succumbs to the following film trope:

NEARLY EVER ACTION MOVIE WITH A FEMALE LEAD EVER

BAD GUY: I’m going to attack her, but foolishly underestimate her abilities because she’s a woman!

[Attacks her but gets ass kicked.]

BAD GUY: Golly, I guess I shouldn’t have underestimated her because she’s a woman!

Kane is a highly dangerous individual, and the people trying to kill her aren’t stupidly oblivious to her lethality, so she never has the advantage of being underestimated. While it’s great that the bad guys appear to be feminists, it doesn’t at all work in her favor as they aren’t at all squeamish in their attempts to kill her. But this is how it should be in any good action movie.

Mallory Kane’s will to survive in the face of overwhelming odds is what makes her a good action hero, but her human side is what we can relate to. Kane is not invincible, and gets bruised and bloodied. When she falls from the side of a building, the action stops as she recovers from the fall. After a particularly violent fight leaves her exhausted and covered in blood, an awkward embrace with her father brings her character back down to earth. “Haywire” is a cut above the competition because the filmmakers gave the extra effort to create a living, breathing person.

While the story was admittedly lacking at parts, the fantastic action scenes well make up for it; “Haywire” is an action movie after all. Steven Soderbergh definitely knows how to effectively film fight scenes, and it doesn’t hurt that Gina Carino was formerly the third greatest 145-pound female fighter in the world.

As a whole, the film is stylish, slick and suspenseful. The set pieces have been excellently staged, and the action scenes don’t rely on sensory overload, making “Haywire” a genuinely satisfying experience.

Grade: B