‘Colombiana’ – 2.5 out of 5 stars
For a movie full of blood, gore, a little sex and more blood and gore for your viewing pleasure, check out “Colombiana," a stylish but excessively gory film starring Zoe Saldana and directed by Oliver Megaton.
This action-revenge tale is about Cataleya (Saldana), who seeks revenge after her parents are killed by order of a ruthless hit man, Marco (Jordi Molla). Besides her revenge mission against Marco, Cataleya moonlights as a vigilante killer who aims to rid the world of all criminals who kill little girls’ families.
While the action is somewhat interesting, this film is riddled with clichés. From the death of family members to the bloody fight scenes, the film is something everyone has seen before. The film is not helped by Megaton’s overly dramatic directing. With the constant light changes to the intentionally shoddy sets, the film that had promise became just another summer action film without the explosives and steroid-induced transformations.
What really bogs the film down is the stereotypical portrayal of Colombian culture. The common perception of Colombians is that they stab, kill, snort cocaine and repeat the process, which this film confirms with Saldana’s performance, minus the coke — which could have helped her energy, frankly.
Films set in certain areas face the task of not stereotyping that location’s people. Megaton feeds into the stereotypical behavior by taking the action and ambience of the film into stratospheric heights of indulgence and filth. That’s not surprising considering Megaton’s directing history. This is the man who brought us “Hitman” and “The Transporter 3," possibly two of the most over-indulgent and over-the-top films ever made.
The film had some potential, given the references it had to work with. A cast including Saldana, who is a great actress, had a lot more to give but eventually failed to capitalize or entertain its audience.