Colombiana [Blu-ray]

This isn't a bad little thriller and Zoe Saldana makes a kick-ass action heroine. But outside of that, this movie is kind of "meh" for me. The problem lies in the lack of character development that La Femme Nikita and The Professional did so well, with less time. And that character development IS important to a story. It's what makes a person able to suspend disbelief in favor or rooting for the characters or not rooting for them.Instead this movie favored some pretty unbelievable action sequences without really giving us enough backstory to believe the characters could do what they would do. In La Femme Nikita we got enough backstory to believe that Nikita could actually be a bad-ass warrior chick who get enough training to be able to figure out how to do what she did. This just felt disjointed and went from amazing little girl who somehow could lead professional killers on a wild chase to full-on Mission Impossible assassin for hire with a side dish of revenge.There are individual scenes that someone threw into the script just to "have a thrilling scene where a car full of random people are shot up and hit a fire hydrant" that add nothing to the story and made me disbelieve the characters, because no real professional assassin trying to stay off the radar of the world would ever do. And then to stand there in broad daylight with witnesses talking to a little girl while holding a big gun like you're discussing a dance recital she doesn't want to do? Yeah, nope, could not buy that. And it pretty much broke any suspension of disbelief I had in the character from there.It was fun to see bad guys getting taken out, it always is, but it was just very predictable and something we've seen done so many times that it just felt like paint by numbers action. Again part of what made Nikita and Leon such wonderful, believable characters were the range of emotions they had during and after pulling off their respective jobs. Zoe Saldana's character just seems magically unstoppable and she has about as much emotion as a Terminator when offing someone.Add to that some pretty giant plot holes and you get a story that while fun to watch isn't much of anything else. I suspect studio heads probably demanded more "cool" action sequences and explosions and therefore the writer or writers just didn't have enough room to make us really care about any of the characters the way we should have. And that's a shame, because the bones of this story were really, really great. It's just that the promise never really materialized and I ended up predicting everything in the film that came to pass.And I hate that about films. Surprise me, make me fall in love with a character - good guy or bad, I don't care - and I will pretty much be able to ignore things like how a little girl might actually go up against trained killers and at least hold her own. The Professional did that for me, this movie did not.But please do cast Zoe Saldana in more action roles. She is wonderful, it's not her fault she only had so much to work with and she did an outstanding job with what she had. Others will likely enjoy this film, it's definitely not the worst, just a bit of a disappointment.

Columbiana was an interesting action film featuring Zoe Saldana as a killer working for her family’s gang. The twist was that she saw her mother and father killed by a Columbian drug lord when she was young, and ever since then she has wanted revenge.The film starts with a bang with the assassination of Saldana’s family. Saldana escapes leading to a dynamic chase sequence. It also shows the determination of the main character, which is the driving force behind the story.The movie is extremely stylish like in a sequence where Saldana poses as a drunk driver to get arrested so that she can carry out a hit. She goes through an elaborate sequence to escape her cell, climb through the jail and end up in her victims cell, and then back again. There’s another scene where Saldana infiltrates a criminal’s compound, swims through a shark filled tank, and then assassinates him by dumping him into that same pool so he’s eaten by his pets.Saldana does a great job with her character. She’s both ruthless and compelling. The action is well done with some interesting choreography. It’s also fun to see a woman in a genre dominated by men.C

Okay, Angelina Jolie may just as well hang it up. We have embraced a new, skinny, gorgeous, female action star! Zoë Saldana is ready for her closeup... (Remember her in "Centerstage" as a teenage ballet dancer?)When Luc Besson ("Taken") writes the screenplay for a movie to be directed by Olivier Megaton ("Transporter 3"), brace yourself for a LOT of action. In my opinion, Besson has created the adult version of Natalie Portman's Leon-trained assassin from "The Professional." Saldana is a capable, athletic gal who can deliver the goods, and the Besson/Megaton team can deliver an audience pleaser.Here's who they work with: * Amandla Stenberg ("The Hunger Games") is perfect as a nine- year-old girl whose parents are killed in Columbia as the film opens. She is the quarry during an exciting chase sequence which starts the action: Leaping off buildings, dashing down alleys, diving into drains... Yup... Parkour... my favorite! This young actress looks like she could grow up to be... * Zoë Saldana ("Star Trek"), our heroine, orphaned since childhood, an assassin since adulthood, and still seeking revenge for her parents' murder 19 years ago. She is smart, cold-blooded and has nerves of steel. Her vigilantism won't be done till she kills the kingpin. * Michael Vartan ("Jolene") is her lover, an artist who evidently can't afford a razor blade...sigh. * Cliff Curtis ("The Last Airbender") is her uncle who gave her a choice when she fled Bogota to Chicago at age nine: Grab a gun and shoot people, or go to school and be really smart about revenge. Guess which she picked? * Lennie James ("The Next Three Days") is the FBI agent who identifies the mysterious killer behind the deaths of 23 thugs associated with drugs. His biggest problem seems to be the CIA.This actioner is exciting, Saldana is perfect, and the movie remains carefully PG-13 (three bits of profanity, we don't see any of the bullets splatter blood, and sex scenes fade out as the guy slips off his t-shirt). There is a LOT of gunfire and some really satisfying blowie uppie stuff.This is entertaining, but be sure to suspend disbelief! I got my DVD from Amazon.

Slightly entertaining. The beginning is believable, drug cartel revenge. After that, not one second is believable. There is no reason to identify with the heroine. She's a psychopath. She watches her uncle kill a person just to make a point that she needs to go to school. She's fine with that, as a child. Her relationship with her boyfriend is no relationship, just sex. He knows nothing about her, except he finds out she is a serial killer and proclaims his love for her. Ridiculous. There is no one to root for. Don't care about her, or the cops trying to catch her, at least she's only killing drug dealers. The whole thing is ridiculous.

This film on the familiar story of drug wars puts a vengeful young woman at the center of the plot , the action sequences are in many ways spectacular with strong hints of the films Heat 2003 and Sicario 2015 in it,s action sequences, however for those with a weak stomach the lighting has been turned down for the extreme violence so there is no need to look away. A love interest has been introduced but seems to serve only for the purpose of her unmasking in it,s inclusion, and to give the F B I investigator a chance to redeem himself.

This film borrowed a lot from other films so I'm going to borrow a lot from another review."It’s all a bit hollow and empty, just like the use of Johnny Cash’s Hurt over the end credits"A tad harsh perhaps but not untrue. In my opinion this a decent but immediately forgettable film.

I haven't seen this film on DVD so can't make a comparasion to the blu-ray. However, this is relatively new film and it's as you would expect for a blu-ray. The film itself is very good because it's NOT predictable and has a very good story. It's thrilling but no so tense that you can't enjoy it, but it has it moments none the less.

Highly underrated film. Zoe Saldana is brilliant in this action-packed revenge flick from the ever-productive Luc Besson stable. Wonderfully shot by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3, Taken 2), the story is a high-octane powerhouse and is easy to watch. And the price?? Silly not to...

Well made film draws heavily on such classics as Leon and Nikita. The film contains some classic action sequences and Columiana, as a child and adult, is totally believable. We all know that the bad-guy is going to get his just deserts at the end but how it happens is great. I have watched it four times and still love it as much as I did the first time.