Colombiana

I have missed watching Colombiana on many an occasion in the past.  Mostly because I wasn’t aware of when it was playing on television or because I chose another movie over this one on the in-flight or because I was just not in the mood for watching an action flick in general.  Didn’t really matter at the end of the day because I guess I hadn’t missed too much anyways.

Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) gets added to my list of exotic names that I will give my children or grand-children whenever I have them (the others include Marjane, April and Ariadne – no points for guessing that they are all characters from movies).  This particular character begins as a 10 year old who watches her parents get killed because her father wants to exit the “family” business of one Don Luis Sandoval (Beto Benites).

 

A longish parkour (free running) chase through the streets of some city in Colombia ensues where the 10 year old is chased by Don Luis’ goons to ensure that the last of kin is also taken care of.  Cataleya gets away and finds shelter in the US Embassy where she vomits out a chip that her father has given her.  The chip was her ticket out of Colombia and into Chicago where her uncle is currently running a small mob.

 

When asked as to what she wants to be when she grows up, she replies in a manner that can be only described as ice cold – A KILLER.  And true to her dream, 10 years later, she has transformed herself into a contract killer who leaves her signature on all of her victims.  A drawing of the Cataleya orchid that is found only in Colombia.  Funnily, 20 plus killings and the FBI didn’t have the common sense to find out details of the flower.

 

Colombiana is the kind of movie that you would watch when you are in the mind for some mindless action and nothing else.  The chase sequences and the killings are all quite well made.  So, what the movie lacks in common sense and attention to detail, it makes up through that wonderful quality called distraction.  Distract the audience enough so that they come out feeling reasonably satisfied.

 

Do not look too much for performances because there aren’t too many to be proud of or even talk about.  It is just a simple, straightforward “man movie”.  Given his track record, I could have expected some more finesse from Olivier Megaton but I guess everyone cannot be perfect every time.  6 on 10.  Watchable but not brilliant.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1627823385/?ref_=tt_ov_vi