Colombiana (film)
Encyclopedia
Colombiana is a 2011 French-American action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 co-written (with Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....

) and produced by Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...

 and directed by Olivier Megaton
Olivier Megaton
Olivier Megaton is a French film director, writer, and editor best known for directing The Red Siren, Transporter 3 and Colombiana.-Early life:...

. The film stars Zoë Saldana
Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana , sometimes stylized Zoë Saldaña, is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 2000 film Center Stage and later gained prominence for her roles as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek, and a starring role...

 in the lead role. The film was released in France on 27 July 2011; in the USA on 26 August 2011 and in the UK on 9 September 2011.

Plot

In Bogota, Colombia, Cataleya's father, Fabio, is having a meeting with Don Luis, a drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...

, to pay off his remaining debt and leave his employment. Fabio, however, knows that Don Luis will put a hit out on him for leaving with a valuable item that he holds and Don Luis wants. Fabio rushes home and warns Alicia, his wife, that Marcos, Don Luis's capo, is coming after them. While Alicia packs, Fabio hands Cataleya a business card, which should give her entry to the U.S. embassy, in case she finds herself alone. Fabio hands Catleya the item that Don Luis wants, telling her not to lose it and to give it to the Ambassador so that she can get a U.S. passport. He also gives Cataleya the address of her uncle in Chicago, who will take care of her. He tells her to "Never forget where you (she) came from." Marcos and his thugs arrive at Fabio's residence. Fabio, Alicia, and Cataleya try to escape, but the house is surrounded. Fabio and Alicia have Cataleya sit at the kitchen table and not move no matter what. Cataleya witnesses both her parents being gunned down.

Marcos locates Cataleya and tells her that he's a good man and he killed her father because he betrayed Don Luis. Marcos knows that Cataleya knows the whereabouts of the unknown item and says Don Luis will give her whatever she wants if she gets him what he wants. Cataleya stabs Marcos in the hand with a kitchen knife and escapes her house. She runs through the streets of Bogota, pursued by thugs from all directions, and is able to slip away by hiding inside a water sewer. She then uses the business card her father gave her and goes to the Ambassador's office. Cataleya vomits out onto the Ambassador's desk the valuable information Marcos was looking for, which she swallowed while she was sitting at the kitchen table in her house. In exchange for this, they give her a passport, and she takes the first flight to America. At the airport, Department of Social Services guides Cataleya. Cataleya pretends to want to use the bathroom and escapes to take a bus to her uncle, Emilio, in Chicago. The next day, Cataleya and Emilio talk about Cataleya's dreams. Cattleya had at first wanted to be a designer or artist, but, because of her parents' death, Cataleya presents a strange request to Emilio: she wants him to help her become a killer. Emilio says he will help her but looks disturbed and enrolls her in an expensive private school.

Cataleya berates Emilio for not taking her seriously and says if he won't teach her how to be a killer, she'll find someone else to. Emilio gives Cataleya a demonstration of how to be a killer by pulling out a gun and firing at the front wheel of a random passing car. Emilio tells Catleya that if she wants to be a killer, she has to be smart, psychological, and know her surroundings, otherwise, "(she'll) end up dead within 5 years". He makes her a deal. If she goes to school, he will teach her how to be an assassin.

Fifteen years later, Cataleya works for Emilio as a hitwoman. She knows how to get in and out without being detected, has amazing fighting skills, and is good with any weapon. She leads a quiet double life with an artist boyfriend who knows almost nothing about her. One night Cataleya, seemingly intoxicated, rams her car into a police car. The officers arrest and interrogate her. They find no name in the database, along with no I.D., no license, but a library card, with the name of Valerie Phillips. The police charge her with DUI and throw her in the precinct's jail for the night. Later on that night, Genarro Rizzo, a big time gangster, is being transferred to the jail. Cataleya pretends to be asleep and when the guards leave her section of the jail, she gets up and begins undressing, donning a black bodysuit, removing the wig she had on her hair. She uses the hairpin from inside her wig to unlock her cell door. Cataleya knocks out the guard and takes his weapon. She approaches Genarro, wakes him, kills him and draws an orchid (a cataleya) on his naked stomach. She leaves the drawing of the cataleya on her victims in hopes that doing so will attract the gangster that killed her parents.

The police, hearing the gunshots, quickly pull the alarm and start searching for Genarro's killer. Cataleya makes her way back to her cell by going inside the air vent with a detour outside over the edge of the roof. Cataleya makes her way back inside the jail, gets back inside her cell, redresses, and pretends to be asleep when the guards check on her. The unconscious guard comes to, and his gun is right next to him. Next day, police release Cataleya with a court date for the DWI. When Cataleya leaves she takes off her fake hands, which are identical to skin, and throws them away.

After further assassinations, the FBI decide to release the information regarding Cataleya's calling card is revealed to the public. It is then revealed that Don Luis has been relocated to the US by making a deal with the CIA. Don Luis sends Marco to hunt down this assassin. Marco eventually tracks down Emilio and kills Cataleya's remaining family.

Cataleya, wrought with grief breaks into an FBI agent's home and tries to explain her situation to him. After threatening to kill his family if he does not cooperate, she gets the address of Don Luis from a CIA agent revealed earlier to know where Don Luis has been relocated into.

Cataleya loads an armored van with guns and her two dogs and drives to Don Luis's estate for vengeance.

After a lengthy gunfight, Cataleya confronts Marcos in the bathroom. They engage in hand-to-hand combat where Cataleya uses plastic toothbrushes as stabbing weapons. A defeated and wounded Marcos picks up his pistol and points it to Cataleya who disassembles the gun and stabs Marcos with the gun barrel, killing him. She picks up Marcos's cellphone and leaves.

Don Luis, meanwhile, sneaks away from a hiding spot and gets in a large black van. He drives away when he receives a call from Marcos. Answering the call, he finds out Cataleya has killed Marcos. He threatens Cataleya and taunts that he is where she cannot find him, but he will regroup and find her. Cataleya calmly responds he is exactly where she wants him to be. It is revealed that Cataleya's two dogs are in the back of the van, and mauls Don Luis to death when Cataleya commands the dogs to "eat".

Her artist boyfriend is held for questioning, when he receives a phone call from Cataleya where they say their goodbyes and Cataleya is seen at a gas station somewhere, getting on a bus.

Cast

  • Zoë Saldana
    Zoe Saldana
    Zoe Saldana , sometimes stylized Zoë Saldaña, is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 2000 film Center Stage and later gained prominence for her roles as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek, and a starring role...

     as Cataleya Restrepo
  • Amandla Stenberg as young Cataleya
  • Michael Vartan
    Michael Vartan
    Michael S. Vartan is a French-American film and television actor. He is probably best known for the role of Michael Vaughn on the American television action drama Alias...

     as Danny Delanay
  • Cliff Curtis
    Cliff Curtis
    Clifford Vivian Devon "Cliff" Curtis is a New Zealand actor who has had major roles in film, including The Piano, Whale Rider, and Blow, and most recently has appeared in NBC's television series Trauma. He is also co-owner of independent film production company Whenua Films...

     as Emilio
  • Lennie James
    Lennie James
    Lennie James is an English actor and playwright.-Career:James attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1988...

     as Special Agent Ross
  • Callum Blue
    Callum Blue
    Daniel James Callum Blue , better known as Callum Blue, is an English film and television actor, best known for his roles on the Showtime series The Tudors and Dead Like Me as well as for his role as Zod in the American television series Smallville and British...

     as Richard
  • Jordi Mollà
    Jordi Mollà
    Jordi Mollá Perales is a Spanish actor, filmmaker, writer and artist.Mollà's artwork is represented in the Carmen De la Guerra Gallery in Madrid, Picasso Mio Gallery in Madrid and Barcelona and Cold Creation Gallery in Barcelona...

     as Marco
  • Graham McTavish
    Graham McTavish
    Graham McTavish is a Scottish television and film actor.He has played the character Warden Ackerman in Red Dwarf in five episodes of series 8. McTavish has also had many supporting roles in British dramas and films such as Casualty, Jekyll, The Bill, Taggart and Sisterhood...

     as Head Marshal Warren
  • Max Martini
    Max Martini
    Maximilian Carlo "Max" Martini is an American film, theater and television actor known for his roles as Corporal Fred Henderson in Saving Private Ryan, Wiley in Level 9, First Sergeant Sid Wojo in The Great Raid, and as Master Sergeant Mack Gerhardt on the military television drama, The...

     as Special Agent Williams
  • Jesse Borrego
    Jesse Borrego
    Jesse Borrego is an American actor. Better knownfor playing Cruz Candelaria in Blood in, Blood out and later guest starring as George King in Dexter. Borrego, a Mexican American, was born in San Antonio, Texas. He considered going into the US Air Force to become a pilot...

     as Fabio, Cataleya's Father
  • Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Alicia, Cataleya's Mother
  • Sam Douglas
    Sam Douglas
    Sam Douglas is an American actor best known for his role as private detective Scott Shelby in PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain. He has had several other roles in films and on stages...

     as William Woodward
  • Doug Rao
    Doug Rao
    Doug Rao is an English actor. He played DS Stuart Turner in The Bill, and he has starred in theatre with The Royal Shakespeare Company, in three renowned world premieres including David Edgar's The Prisoner's Dilemma and Peter Whelan's A Russian in the Woods.In 2007 he wrote, produced and directed...

     as Michael Shino
  • Beto Benites as Don Luis

Production

Filming began around August 20, 2010 in locations including Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, New Orleans, and Mexico. The film was produced by Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...

's EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp is a French movie studio headquartered in Paris. It has been a listed company on Euronext Paris since July 2007. Co-founded by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, the Group takes on a range of production activities like film distribution in France, DVD distribution, sales of French TV...

 company and the script was written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....

.

Controversy

The film has been criticized for stereotyping the Colombian culture, the president of the non-profit group PorColombia, Carlos Macias, depicting it as a proof of a "total lack of creativity" of "Hollywood". Several groups have rejected the film on the basis of the hypothesis that it was of a defamatory nature, changing the film's slogan from "Vengeance is beautiful" to "Colombia is Beautiful".

Critical response

The film itself was not screened to most critics in advance of its release until the day before its release, preventing opening day print reviews, but nevertheless, some critics reviewed the film. Movie review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes labeled Colombiana with a 29% rating based on 84 reviews with the consensus of critics nationwide saying that "Zoe Saldana has the chops but she's taken out by erratic and sloppy filmmaking." However, the film also received a 50% rating based on 20 top critics. Christy Lemire of The Associated Press reviewed Colombiana, writing that “The director of “La Femme Nikita” and “The Fifth Element” serves as co-writer and producer here, but this is very much a spin-off of his brand, a continuation of the kind of stereotype- and gravity-defying characters he’s made his name on. “Colombiana” feels more hammy and muscular, though — but knowingly so, and that’s what makes it solid, late-summer escapist fun. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

,
however, wrote: “This B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

 blast of bloody blam blam is the latest chapter in the Luc Besson book of badly bruised lovelies who are better not crossed. What he began in 1990 with Nikita followed with Léon
Léon (film)
Léon is a 1994 French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson...

in ’94 and ’97′s The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...

, (the last written with Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....

, who co-wrote ‘Colombiana’ with the B-man), he refines in ‘Colombiana.’” Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

felt a little different, writing: “This is a showy flower of an action film. Saldana doesn’t get much of a chance to emote, but her action skills blossom.” Jordan Mintzer of the Hollywood Reporter, nevertheless, was more tolerant of the film, writing that "There are guilty pleasures to be had in this frenzied B starring Zoe Saldana, who gives an acrobatic performance that makes the overcooked material watchable."

Box Office

Colombiana debuted in second place in its first week at the U.S. box office with $10,408,176 behind The Help
The Help (film)
The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s...

. It stayed #2 until August 31, 2011, when it went down to #3 behind The Help and The Debt. The film has made $36,665,854 in United States and Canada, and $24,300,000 in foreign countries, bringing its total to $60,965,854 worldwide.
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