Review of Colombiana (2011) by Dave C — 01 Sep 2012

Admittedly Columbiana does get a bit over the top at points. But there is no denying the screen power that Zoe Saldana commands. The camera follows her everywhere, and her emotionally complicated person is effectively realized. And oh yeah, she can kick some butt.

The story strays from getting overly complicated. It's a straight ahead revenge flick wrapped up in a mob based storyline. The mob is a side to the self purposed assassin that Saldana chooses to become after her parents are killed in front of her. As the movie moves forward it tries to paint layers to Cataleya. Her emotionless reaction to her parents death (and her insane ability to suddenly leap to action as a small little girl against the armed mob) is revealed a bit as she reunites with her family in Chicago. From here the story also brings in sudden romantic relationship that she accidentally falls in to. These help create some welcome moments to the tough exterior that she exudes as she strives to take out the people involved in her parents death.

The film is not the pinnacle of action or revenge movies. But it does build up quite well and ends up a fairly fun ride, even if some of the more gimmicky parts appear over the top.