Colombiana

May 5, 2012 - Zoe Saldana plays an acrobatic assassin, hell-bent on avenging the murders of her parents by a South American drug lord. The cast includes Michael Vartan (Alias) and Cliff Curtis (Body of Proof, Missing). Luc Besson (The Professional) wrote the screenplay.

Saldana plays Cataleya, daughter of a man who carries out hits for a drug lord in Colombia. As the movie opens, the hit man goes to the drug lord and says he wants out. The drug lord says OK but, of course, doesn't really mean it. The hit man goes home to his wife and daughter, and it's not long before the drug lord's men show up. They kill the hit man and his wife, but little Cataleya stabs a guy in the hand and makes a run for it, eventually ending up with her uncle in Chicago.

Suddenly, it's 15 years later, and Cataleya is an accomplished assassin, carrying out hits for her uncle and doing her best to send a message to the Colombian drug lord who killed her family. Unfortunately, the FBI doesn't understand what the message is or who it's for until the guy from the mailroom provides vital information. Then, it's game on as Cataleya has very little time to get her man before the feds get her.

Overall review: * (I'll actually go 1.5 stars) The movie has plenty of action, but the overall plot is largely preposterous. I think the biggest problem here is that things always seem to be starting in the middle, so there are a lot of things that happen that we don't really know how or why they came about. For example, about 2/3 of the way through the movie, we learn that Cataleya has a boyfriend (Vartan). Where did they meet? How long has this been going on? We never know. And there are plenty of other examples like that. Bottom line: The movie loses credibility with the first 20 minutes. After that, just sit back and enjoy the action.