Colombiana is a satisfying action-packed thriller of a movie that will engage even its most disinterested audience member. The film never stops moving and continues its rapid-fire pace until the very end.
Cataleya (Zoe Saldana, "Avatar") is a young girl in Colombia when her family is murdered by the mafia-esque man that her father used to work for. She is able to escape to her uncle's home in the United States (Chicago), and he raises her and teaches her how to be an assassin herself, so that one day she will be able to find the man and his associated and get revenge. Fifteen years later, she is ready to find him, even though everything - including her grandma and uncle's lives - are at stake.
This movie flew by super quickly, and had a great cast. Saldana is superb as Cataleya, in her grown-up form, and it was great to see Michael Vartan (TV's "Alias") back on the screen as her love interest. The girl that plays the young Cataleya, too (newcomer Amandla Stenberg, soon to be seen in The Hunger Games) was fantastic, as was Cataleya's uncle (Cliff Curtis, "The Last Airbender").
Yes, definitely see this movie. It was one of the best action movies I've seen this summer, and it's well worth a full-priced ticket. Zoe Saldana is completely believeable as the assassin who wants revenge for the death of her mother and father, and she flits back and forth on the screen like she was born to play this role. The scenery at the beginning, in Colombia, is easy on the eyes as well. Colombiana is a smart, well-played film, and it's one of the better options at the box office this summer.
Colombiana is in theaters today, August 26th, and is rated R with a runtime of 112 minutes.
=========================================================
=========================================================
Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films