Colombiana [Blu-Ray]

Olivier Megaton

BY Scott A. GrayPublished Dec 21, 2011

Whatever lingering goodwill writer/producer Luc Besson acquired by helming Nikita, Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element continues to dwindle with this lazily scripted and erratically directed revenge piece. Pitched as a sort of spiritual successor to the far superior Leon, Colombiana follows a young girl's journey from witnessing her parent's death at the hands of drug lords in Bogota to becoming a stealthy super-assassin. She flees to America to live with her uncle, who agrees to train her after ludicrously attempting to deter her from a life of violence by opening fire on a random car, in broad daylight, with dozens of witnesses around. It's never clarified if the lack of repercussions signifies untouchable status in the community or if her uncle is just nuts and lucky. A preponderance of scenes lacking key elements of coherent logic is one of many issues that derail Colombiana. This inconsistency carries over to the performances of the supporting cast and the editing, which sees fight scenes chopped up like a music video having a seizure. This is a shame, since Zoe Saldana is well cast for the action style and obviously put a lot of work into her role. Her preparation for the part is expanded upon in "Training A Killer," the best of a handful of mediocre production features. There's a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage of the fight choreography in progress and Saldana is clear and articulate regarding her role and self-expectations in interview footage, though it would have been nice to hear more of her thoughts on being a woman in the male-dominated field of action cinema. Over the course of the other features – a "Making Of," "Cataleya's Journey," "Assassins" and "Take the Ride" – Saldana is the only person to offer commentary of much substance. Most of the content is forgettable, but it's a little amusing to witness the reverence with which the crew treats lunch on a French film set. Other than an excuse to have Zoe Saldana slink around and kick some ass in various skin tight and skimpy outfits, it's hard to say what ridiculously self-surnamed director Olivier Megaton was trying to accomplish with this stale garbage. Make sure you watch Hanna twice before even considering wasting your time with Colombiana.
(Sony)

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