User reviews

Nothing fantastic, but a decent action movie. Giving it 1 star is absolutely ridiculous. Very few movies deserve 1 (same goes for 10), yet here on IMDB it's wildly overused. If you can't see the difference in quality between an Ed Wood movie and Colombiana (production, story, acting etc.), you really shouldn't rate movies. Most likely you just enjoy shitting on things, which seems quite popular these days. A mediocre movie deserves 4-6 stars, not bloody 1, and if you watch enough movies you should at least learn to see the difference between shitty and mediocre. Colombiana is not great, but kept my interest up and it's clearly better than a shitload of other action movies. I rate it somewhere between 6 and 7, but round up because of all the idiotic 1's.

If there is one French director the non-French general public knows about, it's Luc Besson. Even if the name means nothing to you, chances are you've heard of the films he's had a hand in. Among his most famous films are Léon: The Professional (which introduced American audiences to Jean Reno and Natalie Portman), Nikita (which has been remade into an American film and two American TV shows so far) and The Fifth Element (which nearly 15 years later remains one of the most famous science-fiction films as well as one of the 10 most expensive French films).

At the dawn of the new millennium, Besson started his own production company, EuropaCorp, which in the last ten years or so has funded its fair share of diverse movies, both in the French and English language. Nevertheless Europa (as it's known in short) is best known to mass audiences for its numerous, high-octane, medium-budget action films, most of which are written or co-written by Besson himself (often with Karate Kid screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen). Among these are the Taxi, Transporter and District B13 series of films, Wasabi, Taken, From Paris With Love, Danny The Dog (also known as Unleashed), Bandidas, Kiss Of The Dragon, Yamakasi, Crimson Rivers 2, Hit-man,... Through these films, Besson is also responsible for introducing the world to Parkour, which seems to have taken over action cinema in the past 5 years (and even making its way to films such as Step Up 3D).

Colombiana is another product from Besson's action film factory. The story starts in 1992 in Bogota, where some mob guy, Don Luis, orders a hit against a former associate of his who he considers has betrayed him, and naturally his whole family. Only young Cataleya Restrepo escapes the bloody shootout during an intense Parkour chase (what else?), and manages to reach her uncle in Chicago, to whom she swears that she'll become a hit-man and avenge her family. Fast-forward and enter Zoe Saldana as adult Cataleya as the rest of the film takes place, strangely enough, in 2007. With her uncle's help, Cataleya has indeed grown up to be an awesomely skilled contract killer, having performed 22 jobs in 4 years. However, she signs each of her kills with a message destined for her real prey, making her one of the FBI's most wanted. When the FBI decides to divulge her "serial killer" status, Don Luis and his men know what's up, and all hell breaks loose.

Much has been said of the film's similarity with Besson's Léon and Nikita, with many people musing that the film could just have well have been a sequel to Léon with Natalie Portman's character all grown-up and kicking butt (something fans have been dreaming about for years). Now I haven't seen Nikita, but while there are similarities between Léon's Mathilda and Colombiana's Cataleya, the two films are definitely not on the same level. Colombiana is really your typical, run-of-the-mill Besson action production, which is really not a bad thing. It is not in the top-tier of these films (where I place films such as Taken and Danny The Dog), but still a perfectly entertaining romp.

Viewers concerned with director Olivier Megaton due to the perceived lack of action in Transporter 3, his previous film, need not be concerned. The action here is almost non-stop, pretty much to the detriment of plot. While the story has potential and could make for a film with a lot more depth, whatever plot is here is minimal to the max, recycled, cliché and basically a hodge-podge of all previous hit-man/revenge/on-the-run-from-the-law films you've ever seen. There is absolutely zero character development whatsoever and if you didn't know that Cataleya's parents were murdered by Don Luis, you would have no idea why any of the characters are doing what they're doing. I'm not exaggerating, the Transformers films, heavily criticized for this reason, have more character development.

But lack of plot depth isn't really a negative here. More depth would have certainly made it a better film, but Colombiana is still entertaining as a simple, straightforward, "dumb" B action flick. Like all EuropaCorp films, production values are top-notch. The expected Parkour chase is kept fresh by having it unfold with a child. Zoe Saldana gives a great physical performance and spends a great deal of time flitting in and out of vents and the various hits shown in the film are all quite cool. The other actors also do fine, though Michael Vartan's character has very little purpose and is actually barely in the movie. Also this might be the only movie you'll ever see in which toothbrushes are used as weapons.

In short, know what to expect from Colombiana (which literally means Colombian woman by the way), and you'll enjoy it fine. It's a straight-up action movie, no more, no less, very low on plot, high on action, that falls straight into the heap with the scores of other similar Besson-produced films, though it doesn't possess the touches of humor that most of his other productions have. In comparison to the other hit-man movies of the year, it's superior to The Mechanic, but way inferior to Hanna (though it contains a lot more action than Hanna, which shouldn't be seen as an action film). This is no Léon: The Professional 2, fans can keep hoping that Besson and Portman work that one out at some point (interestingly, Megaton is first in line to direct if that movie does happen).

First of all this is NOT a movie about Colombia. The producers may have failed on representing it but this is not the POINT of this movie. It's an action movie about a girl from Colombia and that's pretty much it regarding Colombia. Don't get all frustrated with it. Here's my quick review:

1 - Trailer: I wanted to see this movie mostly based on the trailer which I found catchy. Action and sexy Zoe Saldana sells it all. Still I went on a cheap night because I wasn't convinced this would be worth the full price entry. What you see in the trailer is what you get. A lot of action left to be seen and overall it's a good intro to the movie.

2 - Cast & Characters: Ahhh Zoe Zoe! It's hard to watch her rather than just stare at her. She delivers a pretty solid performance in this movie. She goes all around sneaking up the bad guys and taking them out in creative and yet plausible ways unlike Angelina Jolie in Salt (2010) where her 100 pounds character takes out multiple 250 pounds guys in fist fights. The supporting characters are your "typical" Mexican (Colombian in this story!) guys that pretty much do nothing other than holding guns outside a villa and sipping on drink and cigars. Generic police guys fill the rest of the cast but I found Callum Blue quite enjoyable to watch.

3 - Plot & Story: I think the story is so generic that the little twists added to the script makes them even more surprising. You always feel like you know the next move but most of the time something unexpected happens. Unfortunately, the script as a whole is a bit sloppy and poorly paced. I didn't get bored at all in this movie and though the intrigue isn't much catchy, it was enough to keep me interested. There are many laughable moments (mostly intended) which is fun but the drama is really cheesy.

4 - Theme & Genre: As an action flick, this one stands right. It isn't a melting pot of car crashes and explosions out of nowhere. There is plenty of action and a good mix between Hollywood fireworks and realistic fights. The camera angles and editing sometimes get confusing but in some scenes they really add something cool to watch.

5 - Overall Appreciation: Alright let's face the obvious. There is no Oscars material here. This will get MTV Teen Choice Awards at best. It's a cheap night movie that is entertaining to watch and where you should not expect a classic in cinema. Did I appreciate it? Yes! Is it good? Not bad. I give it 6 out of 10 for Zoe Saldana, good fight scenes and cinematography. Too bad the supporting characters, cheesy drama and poor script kills it a bit.

I went to a midnight screening last night at Times Square because I've been wanting to see this picture for quite some time. With Colombiana movie posters on every street corner and wall I figured it was going to be a tremendous blockbuster to end the summer with. Didn't exactly end up that way.

With some of the names behind this film, I was surprised at the abundance of cheesy bad guys, predictable scenes, and flat supporting characters. The only thing that moves this story along is Zoe Saldana herself with her tremendous presence on screen and beauty, which is breathtaking. She's very believable as a stone-cold assassin, especially the way she sneaks and crawls around with ninja like precision.

It's too bad they couldn't place Zoe and her character into a better storyline and provide her with stronger support. Without giving away the ending, there's also a final fist fight scene in the end which looked like it was filmed and edited by two high-school kids. Isn't this 2011? The technology there was very lacking or done in poor choice.

I still would recommend seeing the movie as its not bad-bad and there are some cool kill scenes, but I wouldn't qualify it as a must-see. The movie is somewhat groundbreaking only for the fact we have a Latina female as the lead role in an action film, hopefully this finally opens to the door for other darker skinned actresses in similar roles, which has been long overdue.

If you watch Movies like this you want a lot of Cool Action, stylish presentation, and an energy driven scenario that is a Comic Book like other place. This one has all that. Not very intelligent or plausible or much to think about, just a visceral ride for a mind-numbing couple of hours.

This is a slick and entertaining Girl With Guns romp, a favorite Character from Writer Luc Besson. His Films have a wide appeal and have varying degrees of success both as Art and as Entertainment. His best work is miles above his contemporaries and his worst is better than average.

This one falls in between. It is Artistic and will please Fans of the Genre, but does not rate as near his best. It is above average in its frantic display of rampaging revenge and glossy fights that are appealing as flights of fancy. Not much here is believable in any real sense, but that is the attraction of Comic Books. Luc Besson owes much to that format and Artform. He is a Writer/Director who pays his debts.

The latest work from Europacorp didn't disappoint me. I love Luc Besson's mad action flicks and this was no different. Zoe Saldana is class as the sexy killer ready to do anything to get revenge on the criminals who murdered her family. It's territory we've seen over and over but I enjoyed it. The films action, when it comes, is thrilling. There are some inventive kills and a good little straightner at the end involving toothbrushes (believe it or not). Saldana will probably come a long way after this in terms of action roles and it's nice to see an actress who can act as well as kick ass. Lennie James is a bit on the didgy side with an accent that sometimes sounds like a drunken person at an Indian restaurant doing a bad impression of the waiter. He's a still a good actor all the same. I hope they continue to make these sorts of action films where I can just switch of and enjoy them because as long as they make them, I'll watch them. ***/*****.

Having remembered when this film was marketed in theaters, as another Bourne type spy film or a version of other female assassin films as Salt, it did not spark much interest. For these type of action thriller revenge type films, perhaps people expected a bit much. The trailers showed exactly the type of film it was and it played it as it should. An entertaining, with thrills and suspense revenge assassin movie type not so much dialogue but tons of mindless actions. This film is quite underrated as it was a box office flop and showed that perhaps audiences did not like Zoe Saldana as much as studios had thought. A better film than critics give credit for.

Zoe Saldana delivers a very solid performances and some of the action scenes are quite clever and intriguing. Some things which could have been done without or better, are a poor and forced relationship subplot involving Saldana and a random guy she meets while in Chicago. Even though Colombiana may be a predictable female heroine revenge film (as in we know she will find the killers and get back at them), it still delivers in what it was meant to, and as that is being exciting and thrilling.

I am giving this an 8, although it might be a 7, about the only bad thing I can say about the movie is that, yes, the plot is somewhat of a rehashed, predictable type of thing. However, Saldana is both sexy and charming and dangerous from the moment she shows up drunk in a tight dress. Yes you have to suspend disbelief a little bit to believe a gal who can't weigh over 95 pounds soaking wet can fight big strong guys, but good movies make you suspend disbelief, and this is a good movie.

Why is it good, because, unlike many action movies these days, they do take a few minutes to establish the main character as a person, so you care what happens to her, and also care if she achieves her goals.

I just watched it again on regular TV after renting it shortly after it came out, still and enjoyable flick, you have to like action/revenge flicks, but if you do this one fits the bill nicely.

I guess some people just expect an award winning movie and actors every time they step foot into a theatre. I was doubtful about this movie in spite of the decent trailers. From start to finish I was blown away with the storyline and its continuous different turns. Maybe its not completely original in terms of the overall story, but what movie is these days. Colombiana keeps you glued to the screen. It has moments of love and drama, and then it brings out the action and suspense. I have not written a review in quite some time, but when a movie is receiving undue praise or criticism then i feel obligated to disclose the truth to the public. Do yourself a favor and go see it.

Very good action flick written and produced by Luc Besson. Zoe Saldana stars as the assassin and does it very well. She is convincing both as an actor and athlete. 'Colombiana' is an exciting movie with better action scenes and story than other much bigger movies from 2011

If you have seen the trailer then you pretty much know what's coming. I personally thought it was a pretty good flick and the action throughout the movie definitely keeps your interest.

My only thought was that they should have gone ahead and pushed it to an "R" rated movie. With all the action and shooting, I believe there was almost little to no blood. I know the issue with too much violence and maybe they were trying to get a younger audience the ability to see this movie but it was lacking the "pop" factor by whitewashing too many scenes. Zoe Saldana did a superb job in this movie and I only wish that some of the supporting cast could have been on the same level that she is on.

IMHO

I can understand why Colombiana is getting some tough reviews. It doesn't feature Colombian actors, it wasn't really filmed in Columbia, and this type of movie has been done so many times before. Kill Bill(2003-2004), Enough(2002), The Brave One(2007), I Spit on Your Grave(1978), Coffy(1973. The list goes on and on. Women seeking revenge for something.

However, I will say Colombiana was FAR better than I thought. I was expecting a predictable, loud, cat and mouse action movie with a lot of explosions and guns. It does have a lot of explosions and guns, but it was not as predictable as I thought and the acting wasn't outstanding but definitely good enough. Zoe Saldana carries the movie with ease and adds a lot to a script with average character development and plot.

Colombiana is a good action flick with a great leading actress and decent supporting characters. It's not something I would have on my top 10 list at the end of the year but think about it, I took 6-7 minutes to do a review on it which I only do if the movie was memorable and it was.

Colombiana: acting:B, plot:B-, dialogue:C+

COLOMBIANA, while a highly entertaining revenge film with a strong female lead, is let down by clichéd storytelling and lack of character development. The story is about Cataleya, a woman whose parents were murdered when she was a child. She then becomes an assassin who sets out to avenge her parents' deaths. As far as the action is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised that Olivier Megaton reined in his tendency to over-shoot and edit. The action sequences were all well put-together and comprehensible, although a final act fight scene in a bathroom kind of dipped back into what I generally don't like about modern action sequences. As far as acting was concerned, nobody gave a bad performance (even the actress who played young Cataleya), but it's a shame that they had such a poor script to work with. The weakest part of this movie, and what really does it in, is the story. The audience is never given a window into who Cataleya is or even care aside from the fact that her parents were murdered in front of her. As an adult, she is emotionally distant and has very little personality. Sure, you could say that it's part of the character but I didn't find it very compelling. There's also the issue of everything in the plot being implausible and convoluted. Again, this is escapist entertainment but a lot of those elements really took me out of the movie. Ultimately, though, I had a decent time. The film is by no means boring, but there are a lot of better ones which tackle similar subject matter, e.g., Luc Besson's Leon, to which this is perhaps too similar.

A little girl witnesses her parents murder at the hands of Columbian cartel. With the help of her uncle, she grows up to become an elite assassin and hunts down her families killers.

I'd give this one a 6.5 rating. The movie itself is not bad, good enough to watch and enjoy. Zoe Saldana and her role in the movie,,, well that's a different matter altogether! She is incredible in this one!!

Firstly, Zoe Saldana is amazing in everything she does. This is no different! A stealthy, methodical assassin seeking revenge on her parents' killers, Saldana embodies the role of Cataleya perfectly! I was also very impressed with Amandla Stenberg, who plays a surprisingly agile 10-year-old Cat and really hooks the viewer in the film's opening!

The story may be a little predictable at times, but it plays through smoothly and doesn't lull at any point for too long. Highly recommend a watch!

Yes, it's a revenge movie, and for that reason alone, there isn't a lot of story. But Zoe really is awesome, scaling walls, sneaking around and just being a great/tough adversary. She could easily be a spy in a franchise, and I'm happy to watch her do anything. The supporting cast here is also good.