French action filmmaker/producerLuc Bessonhas spent decades creating strong women in gritty revenge tales. With such hits asLa Femme Nikita,Lucy, andAnna, he would take women from tragic circumstances and transform them into beautiful loners with a killer instinct. While those films were presented with surrealistic elements of action, the 2011 revenge thrillerColombianaaimed for something far more grounded and brutal.
Produced by Besson under the direction ofOliver Megaton(Transporter 3,Taken 2and3),Colombianaoffers a visually slick revenge thriller in the vein ofNikita, as well as Besson’s first American production,Leon: The Professional. Originally planned as a spinoff sequel to the latter picture followingNatalie Portman’s character Mathilda as an adult, Besson and co-screenwriterRobert Mark Kamen(The Karate Kid) reworked the idea into an original vehicle for a post-AvatarZoe Saldaña, playing an assassin on a never-ending quest to avenge the murder of her parents. Though it was dismissed by critics with a 28% rotten score onRotten Tomatoes, it is undeniable thatSaldaña holds an otherwise thin screenplay together with her intense emotions and fearless physicality.
What Is ‘Colombiana’ About?
As a nine-year-old girl living in Bogotá, Cataleya (Amandla Stenberg) witnesses the tragic slaying of her mother and father at the hands of drug cartel enforcer Marco (Jordi Mollá). The murders were the result of her father’s decision to get out of the business operated by Marco’s employer, Don Luis (Beto Benites). Evading captivity with a memory card containing intel on the Don’s operations, Cataleya flees to America, where she convinces her assassin uncle Emilio (Cliff Curtis) to train her into a professional killer.
Fifteen years later, an adult Cataleya (Saldaña) spends her days eliminating her targetsand leaving a signature Cattleya flower on them to get the Don’s attention. Additionally, she’s in a relationship with artist boyfriend Danny (Michael Vartan), who knows little about her despite pushing to learn more about her life. Soon, Cataleya’s hits alert the Don to hunt her down while the FBI, led by Agent Ross (Lennie James), close in on her as the assassin behind each of her past jobs.
Colombianainitially plays like a remake ofThe Professionalwhen the young Cataleya gets taken in by her Uncle. Once she’s an adult, however, the story turns into a loose remake ofNikitawhere the assassin keeps his double life a secret from her lover. At a brisk 108 minutes, every cliché inColombianais telegraphed down to Saldaña poking at the main villains far enough for their attention, a second tragedy in her life to drive the climax, and ultimately her showdown with Marco and the Don. The only time the film gets interesting is when Vartan’s love interest confronts Saldaña with simple questions about her life that she deflects in her answers. In this sense,Colombianais about how tragedy can shape a child’s life so much that they are far removed from humanity.
Zoe Saldaña and Amandla Stenberg Elevate a One-Dimensional Screenplay
ThoughColumbianasuffers from a one-dimensional script,it is Saldaña’s performance that keeps the film engaging. Unlike her previous roles at the time, Saldaña was not playing a leading man’s girlfriend or a side character in a larger ensemble. She drives the picture throughout with relentless brutality in scenes from killing a cold-blooded target in a jail cell to her all-out fight sequence with Molla duringColombiana’s climax. Even with such a hardened persona, Saldaña dials up the sensuality in her steamy love scenes with Vartan as well as her choice of low-cut outfits during the various chase sequences. Her dark performance echoes early traces of what she would do as Gamora in theGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy.
Adding to the intrigue of this highly underrated thriller is ten-year-old Stenberg playing the young version of Saldaña’s character in the first act. Long beforeThe Acolyte, Stenberg was showcasing her compelling expression of pain, witnessing her parents' murder and performing an impressive chase sequence in the streets of Bogata. Stenberg running through markets and long staircases from the drug dealers provides some of the most terrifying action sequences ever to involve young children on film. Outside the action,she stands out most when Cataleya rejects her Uncle’s wish to go to school in favor of learning to kill. Though the moment is broken up by the absurdity of the Uncle firing at a random car outside a schoolyard to show her what killing is about, Stenberg displayed a real defiance, very impressive for a child actor to convey.
For a PG-13-rated action film,Colombianapushes to the edge of graphic violence to elevate a revenge tale seen time and again. Butit is the performance of Saldaña that gives the film weight in the action and heart in the storytelling.
Colombianais streaming on Netflix in the US.
Colombiana
