Colombiana

First of all this is NOT a movie about Colombia. The producers may have failed on representing it but this is not the POINT of this movie. It's an action movie about a girl from Colombia and that's pretty much it regarding Colombia. Don't get all frustrated with it. Here's my quick review:

1 - Trailer: I wanted to see this movie mostly based on the trailer which I found catchy. Action and sexy Zoe Saldana sells it all. Still I went on a cheap night because I wasn't convinced this would be worth the full price entry. What you see in the trailer is what you get. A lot of action left to be seen and overall it's a good intro to the movie.

2 - Cast & Characters: Ahhh Zoe Zoe! It's hard to watch her rather than just stare at her. She delivers a pretty solid performance in this movie. She goes all around sneaking up the bad guys and taking them out in creative and yet plausible ways unlike Angelina Jolie in Salt (2010) where her 100 pounds character takes out multiple 250 pounds guys in fist fights. The supporting characters are your "typical" Mexican (Colombian in this story!) guys that pretty much do nothing other than holding guns outside a villa and sipping on drink and cigars. Generic police guys fill the rest of the cast but I found Callum Blue quite enjoyable to watch.

3 - Plot & Story: I think the story is so generic that the little twists added to the script makes them even more surprising. You always feel like you know the next move but most of the time something unexpected happens. Unfortunately, the script as a whole is a bit sloppy and poorly paced. I didn't get bored at all in this movie and though the intrigue isn't much catchy, it was enough to keep me interested. There are many laughable moments (mostly intended) which is fun but the drama is really cheesy.

4 - Theme & Genre: As an action flick, this one stands right. It isn't a melting pot of car crashes and explosions out of nowhere. There is plenty of action and a good mix between Hollywood fireworks and realistic fights. The camera angles and editing sometimes get confusing but in some scenes they really add something cool to watch.

5 - Overall Appreciation: Alright let's face the obvious. There is no Oscars material here. This will get MTV Teen Choice Awards at best. It's a cheap night movie that is entertaining to watch and where you should not expect a classic in cinema. Did I appreciate it? Yes! Is it good? Not bad. I give it 6 out of 10 for Zoe Saldana, good fight scenes and cinematography. Too bad the supporting characters, cheesy drama and poor script kills it a bit.

I can understand why Colombiana is getting some tough reviews. It doesn't feature Colombian actors, it wasn't really filmed in Columbia, and this type of movie has been done so many times before. Kill Bill(2003-2004), Enough(2002), The Brave One(2007), I Spit on Your Grave(1978), Coffy(1973. The list goes on and on. Women seeking revenge for something.

However, I will say Colombiana was FAR better than I thought. I was expecting a predictable, loud, cat and mouse action movie with a lot of explosions and guns. It does have a lot of explosions and guns, but it was not as predictable as I thought and the acting wasn't outstanding but definitely good enough. Zoe Saldana carries the movie with ease and adds a lot to a script with average character development and plot.

Colombiana is a good action flick with a great leading actress and decent supporting characters. It's not something I would have on my top 10 list at the end of the year but think about it, I took 6-7 minutes to do a review on it which I only do if the movie was memorable and it was.

Colombiana: acting:B, plot:B-, dialogue:C+

The latest work from Europacorp didn't disappoint me. I love Luc Besson's mad action flicks and this was no different. Zoe Saldana is class as the sexy killer ready to do anything to get revenge on the criminals who murdered her family. It's territory we've seen over and over but I enjoyed it. The films action, when it comes, is thrilling. There are some inventive kills and a good little straightner at the end involving toothbrushes (believe it or not). Saldana will probably come a long way after this in terms of action roles and it's nice to see an actress who can act as well as kick ass. Lennie James is a bit on the didgy side with an accent that sometimes sounds like a drunken person at an Indian restaurant doing a bad impression of the waiter. He's a still a good actor all the same. I hope they continue to make these sorts of action films where I can just switch of and enjoy them because as long as they make them, I'll watch them. ***/*****.

If you have seen the trailer then you pretty much know what's coming. I personally thought it was a pretty good flick and the action throughout the movie definitely keeps your interest.

My only thought was that they should have gone ahead and pushed it to an "R" rated movie. With all the action and shooting, I believe there was almost little to no blood. I know the issue with too much violence and maybe they were trying to get a younger audience the ability to see this movie but it was lacking the "pop" factor by whitewashing too many scenes. Zoe Saldana did a superb job in this movie and I only wish that some of the supporting cast could have been on the same level that she is on.

IMHO

I went to a midnight screening last night at Times Square because I've been wanting to see this picture for quite some time. With Colombiana movie posters on every street corner and wall I figured it was going to be a tremendous blockbuster to end the summer with. Didn't exactly end up that way.

With some of the names behind this film, I was surprised at the abundance of cheesy bad guys, predictable scenes, and flat supporting characters. The only thing that moves this story along is Zoe Saldana herself with her tremendous presence on screen and beauty, which is breathtaking. She's very believable as a stone-cold assassin, especially the way she sneaks and crawls around with ninja like precision.

It's too bad they couldn't place Zoe and her character into a better storyline and provide her with stronger support. Without giving away the ending, there's also a final fist fight scene in the end which looked like it was filmed and edited by two high-school kids. Isn't this 2011? The technology there was very lacking or done in poor choice.

I still would recommend seeing the movie as its not bad-bad and there are some cool kill scenes, but I wouldn't qualify it as a must-see. The movie is somewhat groundbreaking only for the fact we have a Latina female as the lead role in an action film, hopefully this finally opens to the door for other darker skinned actresses in similar roles, which has been long overdue.