Metacritic Movie Ratings
Haywire Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 80

  out of 100

  VarietyJustin Chang

  Paring down narrative and character concerns in favor of a breathtaking application of pure thriller technique, Soderbergh's latest picture is a lean, efficient exercise tossed off with his customary sangfroid and wickedly dry sense of humor.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Village VoiceNick Pinkerton

  Where faux-empowering "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" confines sexual power play to the old rape-revenge matrix, Haywire is a real war-of-the-sexes tournament, briskly paced with a tickling sense of black humor.

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• 75

  out of 100

  ReelViewsJames Berardinelli

  This is one of the director's mainstream efforts, although his penchant for the offbeat and oddly artistic has not been completely reined in. But there's plenty of unsparing, bone-crunching violence to dismiss the idea that Soderbergh is making an art film in disguise.

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• 75

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  A vigorous spy thriller that consistently beckons the viewer to catch up with its narrative twists and turns. Bordering on convoluted, it works best when in combat mode.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  A film like Haywire has no lasting significance, but it's a pleasure to see an A-list director taking the care to make a first-rate genre thriller.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips

  In terms of its title, Haywire doesn't quite go there; it's more "Haywire-ish." But it's eccentric, and the on-screen violence is sharp and exciting - brutal without being either subhumanly sadistic or superhumanly ridiculous.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  Haywire doesn't measure up to the best of the director's work - like, say, his Oscar-winning drug drama, "Traffic." But watching Carano kick, spin, flip, choke, crack and crush the fiercest of foes - mostly men about twice her size - is thoroughly entertaining, highly amusing and frankly somewhat awe-inspiring.

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• 70

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  The script makes no attempt to assert its plausibility or realism; it is, instead, refreshingly frank about what it is, a simple, workable framework for the melees and mayhem.

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• 67

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Haywire cavorts around the world - Barcelona, Dublin, upstate New York, New Mexico - with Bourne-again energy and timeline shuffles, making only cursory attempts at plot coherence

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  Once the talking stops and the action begins, her professionalism is very much in evidence and exciting to watch. And yet, somehow, it cannot quite relieve the tedium of a movie that is too cool even to pretend that there is anything worth fighting about.

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