With Zoe Saldana meting out retribution, revenge is certainly a dish in Colombiana . Otherwise, however, this hackneyed and wearisome melodrama that wastes a star turn from its lithe, lethal leading lady. She deserves better, and she’s not alone. It goes without saying that the viewer deserves better, too.
Colombiana, a mouthful of a title that means nothing, marks the latest collaboration between the triumvirate of producer/screenwriter Luc Besson, screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen and director Olivier Megaton, who previously teamed for the underwhelming Transporter 3 (2008). Maybe it’s something akin to battle fatigue, but even the action scenes in Colombiana — probably its principal foundation — are uninspired. And, really, what more is there?
Her parents murdered by a Bogota drug cartel in the 1990s, little Cataleya Restrepo (appealing Amandla Stenberg) flees to the United States and vows vengeance. As an adult (Saldana, appealing in her own way), Cataleya makes her living as a hired assassin, with periodic detours — more than 20 in all — to slay those she deems responsible for her parents’ death. Colombiana is a busy movie, but it’s not a very interesting one.
The men in Cataleya’s life include Cliff Curtis as her uncle and mentor, Jordi Molla as her sworn enemy, Lennie James as the FBI agent on her trail, and Michael Vartan, in a bland throwaway, as her clueless artist boyfriend. Needless to say, some of them won’t be around at the fadeout, which takes an inordinate amount of time getting to, in any case.
Given the film’s depiction of the FBI (fairly inept), CIA (faintly corrupt) and law enforcement in general (forget about it), it’s hardly any surprise that Cataleya emerges triumphant in the end. The audience isn’t quite as victorious.
The Guard , which opens Friday, marks a lively, auspicious feature debut for executive producer/ writer/director John Martin McDonagh and marks yet another triumphant turn from Brendan Gleeson, playing the title role.
A crafty and crusty rule-bender in the most endearing sense, Gleeson’s Gerry Boyle is an Irish constable sergeant (and erstwhile “guard,” hence the title) into whose jurisdiction turns up an international cocaine trafficking ring. Also into his jurisdiction floats Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), an FBI agent who’s not entirely sure he likes being paired — so to speak — with the brash, bold Boyle.
The feeling is likewise. Not unlike its principal character, the story has quite a few unexpected tricks up its sleeve. The Guard is both an homage and a send-up to the cop/buddy films of yesteryear, distilling elements of both into a film brimming with color and humor (some of it deliciously off-color), and punctuated by oddly moving moments, such as Boyle’s interactions with his ailing mother (Fionnula Flanagan).
And in the center of everything is Gleeson, delivering yet another knockout performance, with Cheadle (also an executive producer) offering his sizable services playing straight man. They’re an unlikely duo, as befits the genre, but very much a winning one.
There’s strong work too from the trio of bad guys: Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong and David Wilmot. They’re fittingly villainous and wicked, but also engaging company. Just because they’re bad doesn’t mean they can’t have personalities – replete with requisite quirks.
