“Haywire”, the new action movie from director Steven Soderbergh, has a serious direct-to-video vide. But it’s like the classiest DTV movie you’ve ever seen. Not only is the cast so far over the head of this style of film—not many straight up action flicks feature names the size of Ewan McGregor, Michel Douglas, Michael Fassbender, and Antonio Banderas, some, but not many—but Soderbergh’s hand is readily apparent. He adds many of his trademark visual and structural flourishes to spruce up the joint. “Haywire” is full of recognizable color and musical themes, a narrative that jumps around in time, tricky camera moves and angles, intricate depth of frame, even down to a planning montage that is reminiscent of his “Ocean’s” movies. “Haywire” isn’t going to blow your mind hole, or make you think too hard about important issues, but, especially given the massive delays in getting a release (Soderbergh was able to shoot and unleash “Contagion” before “Haywire” would ever see the light of day), it is a solid revenge-tinged actioner, full of kick ass brawls, chases, and a sly, self-deprecating sense of humor.
