Mercenaria

Action/violence on the level of a movie from the franchise of "taken" or "john wick." I expected it would be one hand on the popcorn, the other on the fast forward button. But no. The crooked cops, the burned out soldier of fortune, finding a cause worth risking her life. There are twists, you won't see coming.

Fun. Worth giving it a shot. 6.5. It drops a little because its obviously not a big budget, slick Hollywood production. That was a negative, but after 15 minutes, that ceasaes to be an issue. When it ended, I actually wondered if this could find its way to Dominique II? Probably not....but think of all the crappy movies that have seen a 2nd iteration.

A retired assassin crashes in Colombia and gets drawn into a conflict between corrupt cops and an innocent family.

There's little new in this story. However, it's done with such enthusiasm and enough little twists that I liked it. The first twist is Oksana Orlan herself. There just aren't that many women making kick-ass action movies. We get a good one every once in a while, but the classics are all from decades ago. Terminator 2, Aliens... even Mad Max: Fury Road was a decade ago.

Oksana's character, Dominique, is a classic anti-hero who has to be convinced to stick around and defend a family. You can see her humanity slowly returning as she hangs out with a loving family, though their antics annoy her. It was more characterization than was strictly necessary.

Oksana also seems to have more emotional range than some action heroes. When I put this movie on, I pessimistically expected everyone to sleepwalk through the movie and collect a quick buck. Instead, I think you can feel that Oksana really wanted to bring Dominique to life. It's a level of enthusiasm that action fans don't often get these days when taking chances on an independent action movie.

Her love interest and his family were likeable. I thought just the right amount of time was spent giving Dominique a reason to stick around and fight without making you wonder "when does the action start?". The pacing is good, and it the movie never gets bogged down with too much drama.

Eventually, the movie gets serious about its action. Dominique is basically a terminator, but she uses interesting strategies to give herself an edge. I was disappointed that she didn't keep it up throughout the movie, but the fights are more interesting than just watching her blow away bad guys with an automatic rifle. If there's a sequel, I hope they lean on this more.

The fight choreography wasn't bad, and I thought the stunts were also fine. Oksana pulled off being a badass pretty well. The biggest problem was that the bad guys died so easily that they felt kind of like stormtroopers after a while. If you're expecting something mind-blowing, you'll be disappointed.

The SFX were cheesy sometimes, but you can live with them if you're a fan of independent action movies. They generally kept things simple and didn't try to do crazy stuff outside of their budget. A rocket launcher shows up, which could have been disastrous, but they stick to mostly showing the aftermath.

If you enjoy Scott Adkins movies, you may want to check this out. It's got a similar independent vibe, though his movies have better choreography and stunts. I went in with very low expectations and had fun.

Embroidered on the real drama of poor Colombians, this film bring some serious issues into question. It's half way between a B series banal and violent flick and a real tension filled, well done cinematic action movie. You may or may not want to watch it, but there's something else that must be noted: Oksana Orlan has a huge potential for dramatic roles. She is very expressive as an actress, it pays to have her in action movies but she can do so much more. The credibility of the story is forced beyond natural, in terms of physics, ballistics and tactical warfare, the human nature is touching the extremes but, hey, this is Columbia and all bets are off. Oksana stays somehow above all this and shines in a strange, promising way. Do they plan a sequel? She would better step on acting, with less shooting. I gave it a 6, in anticipation.

This movie is as poignant as it is violent. The action will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time while you become attached to the characters. The director really pulled that off. It does leave you wanting to know a lot more about Dominique and her past. I assume this was done to make us want a sequel! The actress is great. Her anger is so genuine that you feel it too. The landscape looked so good on film that I now want to visit Colombia. There are pivotal action scenes that made me wonder how the filming was done so well because I doubt there were tons of effects or cgi. Definitely worth a second watch.

I have just watched this!

And I want to tell you people!

If you like action packed movies and you can forgive low budget issues - you will be satisfied!

What is more important in this kind of movies is the main heroine.

This one is really good and fits perfectly.

Lots of blood - actually bloodbath.

Acting is not really perfect.

More to this there are very many poor quality stuff here...... Sound is poor.

Special effects not really fantastic.

Hand to hand combat....you name it...

YET IT IS SO DAMN FRESH!!!!

And more:

you know this kind of movies. You know what would happen yet you watch it with pleasure.

I think this is because of:

• script
• characters
• editing
• not pretending to be Hollywood stuff - just some cheap flick... with idea....

I loved this movie....

The main heroine is bad, mean and kicks ass. And is so sexy...... in her brutality.