From the director of the Ocean's Eleven series, Traffic and Contagion comes a beautiful new action film with a stellar cast. The rest is haywire.

Modelled loosely on the Bourne formula, Steven Soderbergh introduces Gina Carano as Mallory Kane - a non-federal security operative (read: knows MMA) on the run after being double crossed. When Kane is not running, she's destroying furniture and beating the hell out of some of the most familiar faces in Hollywood today. By this point, a few readers will already be making their weekend reservations. 

And that's where the viewer has to decide. As a vacuous action film, Haywire delivers. Carano is no Angelina Jolie but the fight choreography and flawless execution will have you thoroughly absorbed. Soderbergh's detractors criticise him for his preference of style over substance, but that works to his advantage here. As a dramatic film, in general, Haywire fluctuates. A convoluted plot distracts the intensity without adding to the narrative. Casting the likes of Antonio Banderas, Michael Dougles and Ewan McGregor without utilising their talent seems an ill-consequence of star-appeal marketing. Yet, their presence is not unwelcome. Along with a strong aesthetic focus, Haywire is accompanied with a unique soundtrack list that may have audiences divided. This reviewer loved it.

Wonderful action composition and a total disregard for realism make Haywire an entertaining popcorn-tosser with flair but little more. The best from the genre so far in 2012, but expect that accolade to be beaten down flat over the next 11 months.

P.S. So Steven Soderbergh has been described as "the Michael Jordan of filmmaking". And it is no wonder given that his next film stars Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey as male strippers. Stay tuned.