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Colombiana (2011)

Director: Olivier Megaton

Time Out rating

Average user rating

4 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

When saddled with a name like Olivier Megaton, career options presumably narrow to a choice between designing weapons and directing blockbusters. But what happens if, having made your name with crowd-pleasing Eurotrash like ‘Transporter 3’, you feel the urge to branch out from the usual punch-drunk potboilers and offer audiences something with a little more meat on the bones?

‘Colombiana’ is a prime example of a journeyman reaching for the stars. The plot – one-woman army Cataleya (Zoe Saldana, pictured) goes after the drug barons who murdered her pops – promises straight action thrills. But Megaton’s self-serious treatment, attempting to tick multiplex-friendly action boxes while offering an exploration of loss and the drive for revenge, just doesn’t work. The result is a thriller undone by its own dramatic pretensions.

Saldana is impressive as the slinky assassin, and a nailbiting prison-cell murder sequence, showcasing her Lycra-clad athletic prowess, is the film’s highlight. Like her director, Saldana struggles with the more weighty material, but that’s the fault of the script more than her restrained delivery.

Perhaps Megaton should be lauded for trying to push the multiplex envelope, and there are moments when ‘Colombiana’ almost succeeds. The director is adept at knocking together a decent set-piece, from parkour-style chases to trigger-happy home invasions, but his desire to deliver a treatise on isolation and grief – down to the inappropriate appearance of Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’ – renders his film tiresome and unconvincing.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2142: 8 - 14 Sept, 2011

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User reviews of this film

Love Action said...

Posted on Nov 22 2011 17:30 I love action movies and I think this one was one of the good ones (9/10) after Bourne Trilogy (10/10). But one thing though how did she go back to her sell after killing the guy in police station? Ventilation fan!!? I think that was one of the errors on this movie.
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miles said...

Posted on Sep 19 2011 10:35 must see -hot chica in hot action flick ,very cool -saldana scores highly

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Sep 12 2011 21:28 Non stop, dumb "ass" excitement that has Saldana's sexy sinew slipping all over the screen! The chace 15 years earlier is ace too! Think SALT, THE LOSERS, SHOOT EM UP and the type and enjoy. Lean, unrelenting, skilfully judged action. 6/10

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Baby H said...

Posted on Sep 10 2011 22:35 FAB FAB FAB FILM.. Well recommended film...

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