January 24, 2012 -- This spy action film features some great fight scenes and stunts. It is edited right down to the bone and the production is about as slick as anything seen in recent years. Emotionally, however, it is on the cold side. The only thing hot about it emotionally is the vengeance, which is swift and merciless.

Former mixed martial arts star Gina Carano stars as Mallory Kane, a kind of mercenary spy for hire. She is hired as head of a team to rescue a hostage, which she does. She no more gets home when her boss pressures her into taking on another job, an undercover mission with another operative, Paul (Michael Fassbender of “A Dangerous Method”). They visit a remote mansion as guests at a dinner party. Suspicious, Mallory does some investigating on her own at the mansion and discovers the body of the man she had just rescued in her previous mission. She suspects she is being set up for a fall.

No sooner do Paul and Mallory get back to their hotel room, when Paul tries to kill her. A big fight breaks out, one of a number of action scenes where Carano shows off her impressive fighting skills. After Mallory kills Paul, she is basically on the run for the rest of the movie. Powerful forces above her pay grade want her dead. The only man she can trust is her own father, played by Bill Paxton of “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.” Mallory goes back to her father's place, putting both her and her father in danger, but this draws out her enemies. She must find out who they are and eliminate them before they kill her.

The entire plot is complicated and the film does designate a scene or two to explain what is going on and why people are trying to kill Mallory and why they killed the hostage she rescued. Eventually the two sides in this conflict are sorted out. Mallory's motivation is pretty simple, stay alive, protect herself and her father, get vengeance on those who killed her friends.

Carano does more than just fight in this movie. She is called upon to carry the emotional load of this film and she does that. She seems to be the kind of actor who could have a good career in this kind of film, along the lines of Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone. This is the kind of film which doesn't require great acting skills, but Carano shows evidence of untapped depths of emotional power that could expand her acting range from this limited kind of role. The film boasts a solid cast well-known actors, including Michael Douglas of “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” Antonio Banderas of “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D,” and Ewan McGregor of “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” McGregor is especially good as one of the main villains of the film.

This is a film which is impressive from the standpoint of its direction (by Steven Soderbergh of the “Oceans” films) and production values. The film's editing is especially sharp, resulting in a fast-moving film that is very lean. While the technical aspects of the film are very polished, I felt emotionally disconnected from this film. I couldn't feel a connection to what I saw and heard. It was like the actors were going through the motions well enough, but there was nothing at stake, emotionally. So, it is a mixed bag. It rates a B.

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