Only a solid 6 days late on this one.. one of these days I'll get the movie reviews up to current status. Crazy things like booze and the internet tend to get in the way. Gina Carino was a minor cultural phenomenon back in... ohh.. 2007/2008? She was an attractive and skilled female MMA fighter who gathered a large following and parlayed that following into a featured spot as one of the "Gladiators" on the short-lived modern reboot of "American Gladiators". Then someone (Steven Soderbergh) decided that she should be in movies, and here we are. Soderbergh, of course, is the acclaimed director of films like "Traffic", the "Ocean's" films, "Contagion", "Erin Brokovich", and so on. Needless to say, he can attract A-list talent to his projects. It seems like he's been on an experimental bent lately, making a flick with porn star Sasha Grey a few years back and now introducing the world's first female MMA star to feature films. The supporting cast in this one is impressive. Ewan McGregor, blog favorite Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Channing Tatum round out the cast. As far as Carino herself, she has a solid screen presence, a natural beauty and a certain physicality that brings believability to the action sequences. However, it's clear that she's a newcomer to the movie game.. as her dialogue seems stiff and forced, and she doesn't seem to know what to do with scenes that don't require her to kick someone's ass. She may become a good actress someday.. but she just isn't yet. Not that that's her fault - carrying a movie is no easy task - Nic Cage hasn't figured out how to do it despite 25 years and 30+ chances.
As far as the plot - it's pretty standard and throwaway. Mallory is an agent for a company that contracts out dirty work for an unnamed government agency. Basically, they do jobs so that the government doesn't have to. After a contracted rescue mission in Barcelona where all is not as it seems, Mallory's world comes down around her head through a web of double-crosses, lies and betrayals. The plot hops around the globe as Mallory seeks to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, whose intentions aren't entirely clear.
All in all, I was rather disappointed in this one. Not that I expected it to surpass the "Bourne" flicks and become an action/spy classic, but given the talent behind and in front of the camera, I hoped for a solid flick at least. Unfortunately, this flick is uneven, inconsistent and rather dull despite stretches that are quite good. The plot is rather paint-by-numbers and seems more befitting an 80's Segal or Van Dam actioneer rather than a flick involving all of this talent. Bad guys with dubious allegiances and even more uncertain motivations simply doesn't cut it in our post-Bourne, post-Daniel Craig Bond world. In addition, as mentioned above, Carino, despite her impressive physicality and fight sequences, is simply a stiff unable to hold a movie on her own. She would have been better suited to ease her way into a starring vehicle via supporting roles.. as it felt like she was doing a "Terminator" impression throughout. In addition, Soderbergh's trademark jazzy transition scenes (think the "Ocean" movies) simply felt out of place. Trying to turn a John Cena straight-to-DVD flick into an arthouse flick with A-list talent and smooth listening jazz interludes just results in a slightly better genre flick in the absence of a transcendent performance. Unfortunately, the talented actors (McGregor, Fassbender, Douglas, Banderas) simply aren't given any meat to chew on. The most nuanced and complicated non-Carino character was played by Channing Tatum.. who probably takes acting lessons from his acting-challenged co-star. That dude is a stiff.
I hate to sound so negative about a movie.. but this one just didn't do it for me. There are scenes that are tense and very good.. but these cut abruptly to something COMPLETELY different, giving the flick an extremely uneven, disjointed feel. Carino does great fight scenes, as she should, but you really believe that she could beat up a man.. which isn't typically the case with women action stars. So while she certainly has some potential, she's just not there yet. So while this one isn't bad, it isn't particularly good, either.
5.5/10
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