Colombiana

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. ***/*****.

I am giving this an 8, although it might be a 7, about the only bad thing I can say about the movie is that, yes, the plot is somewhat of a rehashed, predictable type of thing. However, Saldana is both sexy and charming and dangerous from the moment she shows up drunk in a tight dress. Yes you have to suspend disbelief a little bit to believe a gal who can't weigh over 95 pounds soaking wet can fight big strong guys, but good movies make you suspend disbelief, and this is a good movie.

Why is it good, because, unlike many action movies these days, they do take a few minutes to establish the main character as a person, so you care what happens to her, and also care if she achieves her goals.

I just watched it again on regular TV after renting it shortly after it came out, still and enjoyable flick, you have to like action/revenge flicks, but if you do this one fits the bill nicely.

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.

Having remembered when this film was marketed in theaters, as another Bourne type spy film or a version of other female assassin films as Salt, it did not spark much interest. For these type of action thriller revenge type films, perhaps people expected a bit much. The trailers showed exactly the type of film it was and it played it as it should. An entertaining, with thrills and suspense revenge assassin movie type not so much dialogue but tons of mindless actions. This film is quite underrated as it was a box office flop and showed that perhaps audiences did not like Zoe Saldana as much as studios had thought. A better film than critics give credit for.

Zoe Saldana delivers a very solid performances and some of the action scenes are quite clever and intriguing. Some things which could have been done without or better, are a poor and forced relationship subplot involving Saldana and a random guy she meets while in Chicago. Even though Colombiana may be a predictable female heroine revenge film (as in we know she will find the killers and get back at them), it still delivers in what it was meant to, and as that is being exciting and thrilling.

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.