Colombiana (2011)
Director:
Oliver Megaton
Writers:
Luc Besson (screenplay), and Robert Mark Kamen (screenplay)
Cast:
Zoe Saldana (Cataleya), Michael Vartan (Danny Delaney), Callum Blue (Richard), Jordi Molla (Marco), Lennie James (Ross), Amandla Stenberg (Cat-10), Cliff Curtis (Emilio Restrepo), Beto Benites (Don Luis), Jesse Borrego (Fabio),and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Alicia).
Opening Credits:
The main reason why this movie is up for review is simply that a movie like this really can't be passed. The action sequences are great, even though it's the Taken 2, 3 type of action. It is fast, but at least you could see what is going on. It isn't bad at all. Just wish the Taken films had some slow down. The action was so fast, it was hard to understand what was going on in the scene. The jump between scenes made hard to see, which gave me a headache. Once a movie gives you a headache then you're looking at some pretty big issues. Action films are cool when you could actually see the action. If the actor can't produce the action sequence, then there is a big problem.
Close up shots make a great sequence, especially when you're scene is emotional. The good guy finally catches up with the man with the scar. He pushes him off the building, while delivering a spin kick to the head. That scene close up and slowed down a bit, would deliver the suggested emotion. In the Taken films, everything is so fast it takes you off guard. The emotion of the scene is lost, and so is the action.
New or old the Reeltime will always pick a film that will have some enjoyment, and if you're a film buff like myself, the B-movies are always fun to watch but it all depends on mood, and setting. I wanted an action flick that would deliver, i knew that this film had substance, and a strong female lead.
In the review i will explain the three fundamentals of a true action flick, just because it's action doesn't mean you'll get all three. Action movies are good, but they must have those fundamentals or it will be just a humdrum film, and that's not what you want in action. The action must be smooth rolling, no choppy scenes. True action can't be jagged, it has to flow, from one scene to another. Editing is a big part of filmmaking process, it's edits must be good, because audiences will notice the bad choppy scenes if not corrected.
Review:
The Reeltime Movie Review's action fundamentals:
1) The Surge:
Action movies must have something that starts it all. In the movie Colombiana, young Cataleya (Zoe Saldana) sees her mother and father die. The man who killed them was looking for a chip. The key here is the chip, the intent. The surge is simply the rage, anger, that brings on the action.
Another example is First Blood (1982); Rambo was in the wrong town, and when he crossed that line the soldier was jailed, interrogated, all for political reasons. Those things caused the surge, he went into hunting mode, hence the story.
Here are movies that don't have the surge, and you'll know right from the start as soon as i describe it in detail. Demolition Man (1993); This movie is simple, because the plot consists of John Spartan coming out of suspended animation to catch a criminal in a very different society. The plot is all set up nicely, there's no surge it just was a story about a cop being called to duty to catch a bad guy. The surge will play very differently, meaning imagine the Demolition Man's bad guy, Simon Phoenix killing Spartan's family in the past, only to be awakened in the future, not just catching him but killing him would definitely be the surge.
Going back to Colombiana, Cataleya had so much pain from the beginning, it intensified as the movie progressed. The complete action flick, a place where the surge is present. But the surge isn't the only aspect of the film that makes it action, it's only a piece. Let's move on to the centerpiece of what is a good action film. Because without these pieces, the film will not deliver, it will lack and many disappointed people will end up ranting about how bad the film was.
2) Connection:
The movie must have true connections, it must have intent. A hardcore emotion that will drive you to a not so pleasent place. An example of this is the 1990 film Hard to Kill. Mason Storm had seen something illegal, it was recorded. It was a pretty big deal according to the Mob. Afterwards the good guy cop goes home. A hit is put out on him, putting his family in danger as well. Here the surge kicks in after the bad guys take Mason Storm out. The bad guys thought they had killed Storm, but that wasn't the case. Storm comes back for revenge, after he went through his recovery.
This film has all the pieces that make a great action film. Mason Storm was the centerpiece for the action, and all three aspects that make a really good action flick. The protagonist went through the sequences to get to the end, and which is Gratification. The third part of what makes an action flick true to heart.
Mason Storm was the cop who saw to much and ended up dead. The antagonists in the case for the film thought he was dead. The guy recovered, trained, his process was the perfected depiction of an action flick.
3) Gratification:
The final is not very difficult to understand, it's called gratification. The pure satisfaction of the events that occurred while the movie went through it's process. Act 1 the young girl Cataleya runs from the evil Cartel. She escapes runs to the embassy, outsmarts her overseers and heads on to Chicago Illinois to live with her Uncle where she learns a lesson about revenge. Act 2 we see Cataleya all grown up, becomes an assassin, and at each location she leaves a flower, Cataleya. That will send a huge message to her enemies, and brings out the Cartel, making them angry with every turn. By Act 3 the message is sent, the FBI, and CIA is not only after the Cartels but Cataleya. She confronts her enemies putting them to rest and claiming victory. In her mind it was more than revenge. The gratification that came with each kill gave her a god like status. That is the final piece to the puzzle. The fundamentals of action are Surge, Connection, and Gratification. Pieces that make up the pie.
Colombiana is not a film for everyone it takes you to a different place. It's on a side of the anti-hero. Cataleya's life was messed up from the beginning because her parents were involved with the Cartels which made it difficult for this young lady to grow happy without getting involved in illegal activity. The acting was superb, it was just right for an action film. To me this film really deserves more credit that it did by other critics. It had emotion, substance, action, all my fundamentals, and the three Acts flowed.
The only flaw it has were the fighting sequences. I really dislike the sped up action to make it look like the actress has a unique set of skills. In the case for the film, it was done well, unlike those Taken movies; I really like the way this one was shot. If they would've sped it up like the Taken films my rants would be pretty harsh. Films like Taken don't really need to be sped up, it makes the movie look gaudy, and just horrible. All movies have flaws, but this one had a couple sequences that were bad, but it didn't kill the flick.
Final thoughts here on this film. It's good action flick, all the elements are there, it has presence, style, and I really I'm amazed Luc Besson wrote the screenplay for this film, it payed off. The acting was good. Zoe Saldana performance was amazing, she played an assassin well. Jordi Molla played Marco who did a wonderful job, his presence was noted as he walked on screen. Can't say anything bad about my favorite FBI agent, Lennie James (Ross). The scenes with him in it were memorable: (I'm not a walking Dead fan. Just a die hard fan of that series. So I'm not biased at all, really). Colombiana has some suggested scenes, but other than that this film good. All the pieces made the film very watchable.
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