Colombiana

Colombiana is the latest film from French iconic filmmaker Luc Besson. France is not known for their action films, but Luc produced one of the only good ones (and personal favorite of mine) to come out of France; La Femme Nikita.  Luc has since gone on to become an internationally recognized film maker, but has kept his love of his favorite genre; hot chick assassins who kick butt.  This film continues that tradition without anything too new to add, but does utilize the exceptional talents of up-and-comer (probably safe to say she’s already arrived) Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and gives it a multi-cultural twist.  While this film is the classic Besson formula, it’s still a fun ride.

Zoe Saldana plays Cataleya, a Colombian woman whose crime cartel parents were killed in front of her when she was a young girl (the actress who played the young Cataleya, Amandia Stenberg, is adorable.  She really had her own presence other than just ‘young Zoe Saldana’).  Catalelya escapes the drug cartel hit squad and through some clever traveling maneuvers makes her way from Bogota, Colombia to Chicago, Illinois where her uncle’s family lives.  Kind of impressive for a 9 year old girl, but hey; suspension of disbelief is necessary in action films.  The audience is uneasy as the innocent Cataleya wanders the alleys of South Chicago looking for her Uncle.

For me, the true stand out performance in the film was Cliff Curtis as Uncle Emilio (Tio Emilio if we want Spanish authenticity).  Emilio is a ruthless Colombian gangster, but at the same time has a strong sense and love of family.  He takes in Cataleya and is unexpectedly moved by her.  Something he thought he was incapable of since he lost his son to gangster violence.  Emilio is a frightening person, but you can also see how much he loves and is protective of Cataleya.  Emilio is hoping that the angelic Cataleya is his one chance to produce something good out of his family, but is frightened himself when the 9 year old exclaims her sole purpose in life is to kill the man responsible for killing her parents.  No amount of intimidation can change young Cataleya’s mind (and Emilio is intimidating).  Emilio decides if he can’t change her mind, then he will do the best he can to prepare her.

Flash forward 15 years to Cataleya as an adult.  She has become an assassin-for-hire for her uncle.  She is perfect as no suspects that a slender petit beauty could be such a lethal assassin.  Her skill is incomparable and she leaves no trace.  This is another  trait of all Besson’s protagonists.  While working for Emilio, she takes on assassination projects of her own.  Each designed to lure out the drug lord who murdered her parents.  She leaves her calling card of the Cataleya Orchid flower drawn on her victim’s chests, so that the drug lord will know it’s her.  This is her life and it works for her.

It’s a lonely life, so she has a reoccurring anonymous relationship with a local artist named Danny (played generically sensitive and non-threateningly by Michael Vartan).  This is really thrown in to show off Zoe Saldana’s incredibly beautiful physique during the sex scenes, but it is also illustrates her longing for a normal life.  Her need for secrecy keeps her from establishing any type of real connection, but she wishes it were otherwise.  Danny pushes for more, but Cataleya pushes back harder.  She knows that her life of secrecy has no room to share with another.

          As the film progresses, the FBI starts to close in on Cataleya.  She feels the pressure to find the murdering drug lord before she is captured herself.  Unfortunately, he is under CIA protection when she finds him and it becomes harder to go after him.  She finds an unwilling ally in FBI Special Agent Ross (played by Lennie James of ‘Hung’ fame).  Even though she uses him, Agent Ross knows that everything isn’t as it appears.  He does a more than respectable job portraying the unwavering FBI agent in pursuit.

The film climaxes much like Besson’s other films (La Femme Nikita, The Professional) with immense amounts of explosions and carnage combined with systematic elimination of bad guys amongst the chaos, but it is still an action ride that is enjoyable to take.  I say Luc Besson should keep his fixation on hot chicks causing chaos because it still works.  Zoe Saldana proves she can carry a film by herself and I predict she will be considered a timeless beauty and a great actress as her career progresses.   She has a allure that transcends all categories.  

I rate this film *** stars.