Colombiana

Beautiful Revenge, But Seen Before

Director: Olivier Megaton
Writers: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
Cast: Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Callum Blue, Jordi Molla

SYNOPSIS: After a young girl witnesses her parents being murdered by the henchmen of a Colombian druglord, she grows up to be an assassin bent on taking contracts to punish the guilty and stepping closer to killing the men responsible for making her an orphan.

REVIEW: Olivier Megaton, director of Jason Statham's Transporter 3, takes a screenplay by Transporter and The Fifth Element scribes Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen to bring Zoe Saldana a role that takes advantage of her body, a rain of bullets, and a bent for revenge. Known for high-octane action flicks, Besson, Kamen and Megaton have the clout to make another hit film. The question is whether the trio delivers.

Zoe Saldana stars as Cataleya Restrepo, the adult version of the little girl who witnesses the death of her parents at the hands of the henchmen of a Columbian druglord. Raised from an orphaned girl by her uncle Emilio (Cliff Curtis), young Cataleya (Amanda Stenberg) announced to her uncle that she wants to be an assassin and for him to train her in the craft. Once of age, Cataleya starts taking contracts to hone her skills and prepare for the elimination of those who spilt bloodshed against her family.

Starting off with nice gymnastic evasive pursuit between the young Cataleya and the henchmen led by Marco (Jordi Molla) and followed up with a grown-up Cataleya jailhouse break-in and break-out assassination of a lower level cartel player, Colombiana looked to have the signature Luc Besson flare that audiences have come to expect from the creator of Brigette Fonda's Point of No Return and Natalie Portman's Leon: The Professional. Unfortunately, once you write and deliver stories like The Professional, Taken and The Transporter, Columbiana does not seem to hold up.

Marking all of her victims with a outline of a flower and a label of their crime Cataleya is pursued by Special Agents Williams (Max Martini) and Ross (Lennie James), both thinking they are on the trail of a serial killer and ultimately doing little to fill out the tension in the story. Cataleya finds tenderness and companionship with Danny (Michael Vartan), but his role as a foil for Cataleya's mysterious past and uncertain future is overshadowed by his more simple role as a plot device. Jordi Molla as Marco does give the film weight and a decent character counter to Saldana's Cataleya, and Cliff Curtis as uncle Emilio is reminiscent of a combination of the reluctant guardian Leon and his employer/friend Tony from The Professional.

Colombiana hoped to deliver action, intrigue and drama. But while Zoe gives us glimmers of beauty, bullets, and brawn, the rest of the film plods along with semi-finished story lines and unnecessary or unfulfilling threads. Even the ending comes from an obvious, if satisfactory source. If you are a Luc Besson or Zoe Saldana fan, go to Colombiana if you want, but you may want to save your money for a better opportunity - even if revenge is beautiful.

WORTH: Rental