Colombiana
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 No, revenge is not beautiful at all. Neither is this film.
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"Colombiana" is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldana with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, and Jordi Mollà. The term "Colombiana" means a woman from Colombia. The film is about Cataleya (named for a genus of orchids), a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.
Plot
In 1992, in Bogota, Colombia, drug baron Don Luis Sandoval sends his enforcer Marco and a gang of armed men to kill his associate Fabio Restrepo and his family because Fabio has defied him by trying to leave his criminal life behind. Fabio gives his nine-year-old daughter, Cataleya, a SmartMedia computer memory card loaded with information on Don Luis' business and tells her it's her "passport"; he also gives her the address of her uncle Emilio in Chicago, who will take care of her. Finally, he leaves her with her mother's cattleya orchid necklace. After Fabio and his wife Alicia are gunned down, Cataleya escapes and seeks asylum at the U.S. Embassy. She is granted passage to the United States after handing over the memory card to embassy staff. Although American officials attempt to transfer her into the foster care system, Cataleya tracks down her uncle in Chicago and asks him to train her as a killer.
Why Revenge Is Not Beautiful or Sweet In This Movie
- Despite being a PG-13 rated film, certain elements make it more of an R-rated film, such as, more than 1 use of the F-word (which breaks the "one F-bomb" rule most PG-13 movies have) the and disturbing scenes that look like it would come from a brutal horror film (The death scenes being an example of this).
- While the action sequences were praised, Cataleya Restrepo is an unlikable protagonist who seems to act more like a villainess than a heroine at times.
- The final battle near the end of the film is really anti-climactic.
- Terrible Pacing: Some scenes feel like they drag on for way too long
- While the soundtrack is somewhat okay, it comes off as really forgettable, compared to the soundtracks from other action movies.
- This film can feel very rushed at times, despite being 108 minutes long.
- The main villain, Senõr Luis, is a rather forgettable villain.
- Terrible direction by Olivier Megaton, who directed films like "Taken 2" and "Taken 3".
- Despite being an action film, the plot can sometimes come off as inconsistent.
Sweet and Beautiful Qualities
- The soundtrack, while forgettable, is at least good.
- Some of the acting is decent.
- For example: Zoe Saldana's performance as Cataleya Restrepo.
- The action sequences are cool, despite being poorly utilized.
- On top of that, the idea of a female assassin as the protagonist is a neat idea, but unfortunately, the problems make this idea poorly executed here
- The locations look cool.
Reception
While Zoe Saldana's performance and the action sequences were praised, this film received a generally mixed-to-negative reception from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 103 reviews with an average rating of 4.88/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Zoe Saldana has the chops but she's taken out by erratic and sloppy filmmaking." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45% based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
