I confess I am somewhat of a Luc Besson fan. I even vicariously enjoy some of his lesser movies, and he occasionally makes a pretty damned good one. No, Columbiana isn't Acadamy award material, but taken for what it is, it's just the sort of silly escapist movie that I enjoy. I will go to this movie.
Another movie that shits on a country south of our border. The milieu of this movie is twenty years ago, and Colombia has made impressive strides since then. Stone cold killers, especially sexy sexy hot ones, make for fun entertainment for a certain kind of person who knows nothing of the rest of the world and cares less, but for people who know actual columbianas and colombianos this kind of cultural imperialism is a drag.
Zoe Saldana does not look like an assasin. This is not the body of a skilled fighting expert. It will only be by the magic of movies that she takes down men more than twice her 100 pound frame. This irritates me to no end.
@6 - Just going with the tone of the article. The film could be better, interesting even, if the plot was more realistic and you could take the star seriously. It's fine if it's stupid, it can still be entertaining.
Saw this Friday and I concur with Paul, Reverse Polarity @1 and to some extent Fnarf @2, except I don't think the suspension of cultural sensitivity for a mindlessly fun movie is so bad.
This movie isn't a realistic portrayal of *anything*, not Columbia, not the US, not the main character, not the villains.
Instead of getting upset, I'm very pleased with the portrayal of of a powerful and smart black Spanish-speaking woman.
@3 She actually is portrayed as a rather wimpy fighter when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, so her body type is actually more believable than I expected. Most of the movie is her being very good at sneaking around and shooting things or blowing them up, not fighting hand-to-hand.
This movie isn't a realistic portrayal of *anything*, not Columbia, not the US, not the main character, not the villains.
Instead of getting upset, I'm very pleased with the portrayal of of a powerful and smart black Spanish-speaking woman.
@3 She actually is portrayed as a rather wimpy fighter when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, so her body type is actually more believable than I expected. Most of the movie is her being very good at sneaking around and shooting things or blowing them up, not fighting hand-to-hand.
I agree with wingedkat -- glad to see a Black Latina in a leading role.