I cannot believe this film is by same Director that brought us the outstanding character driven piece "Traffic".
The acting here is mediocre from all the big names, Gina Carano fares a little better as she is a WWE Star turned actress I can forgive the lack of excellent acting skills as she conveys the bad ass mercenary persona quite well, with a touch of femininity when the plot requires. Michael Fassbender does okay with a small role as Paul, but Ewan Macgregor is just wasted here as Kenneth, as is Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas in small meaningless clichéd roles. The sole purpose of their casting is to cram the movie with big names.
The attention to detail from Soderbergh displayed in such films as "Traffic" seems to be missing and the slick style of Out of Sight and Ocean Eleven is also absent. There is no real motivation shown for Kenneth (Ewan Mcgregor) to double-cross Mallory (Gina Carano) and the fight sequences are very poorly staged to the point that they become ridiculous. A third of the running time involves the main character, recounting how she was double-crossed to a stranger working in a diner, who helped her out. Why would somebody working for a shady organisation, employed to fulfil equally shady contracts for hire, spill all these details to a complete stranger that has absolutely nothing to do with the situation and cannot help in any way.
Earlier in the film she chases someone on foot in a prolonged but unexciting chase sequence resulting in the guy being beaten up and left moaning under a metal shutter, when asked why she chased him relentlessly she said she hate loose ends ! When she eventually finds the man who double-crossed her she does not even shoot him or stab him, instead she attacks him while walking on the beach, resulting in another poorly staged fight, ending up with him trapped between some rocks and she just leaves him there to drown. I suspect someone in her profession would have just shot him in the back of the head, as the point is to do the job in the most efficient way leaving no loose ends and she already stated this was her way !
The acting here is mediocre from all the big names, Gina Carano fares a little better as she is a WWE Star turned actress I can forgive the lack of excellent acting skills as she conveys the bad ass mercenary persona quite well, with a touch of femininity when the plot requires. Michael Fassbender does okay with a small role as Paul, but Ewan Macgregor is just wasted here as Kenneth, as is Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas in small meaningless clichéd roles. The sole purpose of their casting is to cram the movie with big names.
The attention to detail from Soderbergh displayed in such films as "Traffic" seems to be missing and the slick style of Out of Sight and Ocean Eleven is also absent. There is no real motivation shown for Kenneth (Ewan Mcgregor) to double-cross Mallory (Gina Carano) and the fight sequences are very poorly staged to the point that they become ridiculous. A third of the running time involves the main character, recounting how she was double-crossed to a stranger working in a diner, who helped her out. Why would somebody working for a shady organisation, employed to fulfil equally shady contracts for hire, spill all these details to a complete stranger that has absolutely nothing to do with the situation and cannot help in any way.
Earlier in the film she chases someone on foot in a prolonged but unexciting chase sequence resulting in the guy being beaten up and left moaning under a metal shutter, when asked why she chased him relentlessly she said she hate loose ends ! When she eventually finds the man who double-crossed her she does not even shoot him or stab him, instead she attacks him while walking on the beach, resulting in another poorly staged fight, ending up with him trapped between some rocks and she just leaves him there to drown. I suspect someone in her profession would have just shot him in the back of the head, as the point is to do the job in the most efficient way leaving no loose ends and she already stated this was her way !