Zoe Saldana is a star on the rise, she's strong, beautiful, intelligent and a decent actress. Time to test her star meter as she takes the lead for the first time on her own in an action film. In Hollywood, it's rare to have an action movie staring a female, you need a good actress to take the lead in order for it to be taken seriously. But my boyfriend really wanted to see this movie because he just adores Zoe, I think he just has a good crush on her, but it was his turn for the rental. We watched it a couple nights ago and to my surprise without any knowledge of the film prior to seeing it, I really did enjoy this movie. I'm a little surprised at the rating as this is a better movie that I've seen for a while at least for 2011. I thought Zoe made a great action star, she was tough, sexy and brought a lot to a typical story.
Fabio, a gangster and drug runner, has a meeting with Don Luis, 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 wants, a small disk with valuable information on the drug lords, so he rushes home to prepare his wife, Alicia and his young daughter, Cataleya. Fabio hands Cataleya the item that Don Luis wants, telling her not to lose it and to give it to the Ambassador telling her that it is "her passport". He also gives Cataleya an address in Chicago. She then uses the business card her father gave her to get into the U.S. Embassy and goes to the Ambassador's office. In exchange for this, they give her a passport and a small amount of cash, and fly her to Miami. She goes to Chicago after and meets her uncle Emilio, who teaches her how to become one of the slickest killers. She grows into a strong woman who eventually goes in above her head going into a personal revenge plot on her parent's death.
The story may be predictable, but I liked the way it was handled over all. The action scenes were very tight and exciting. I loved that first scene with Cataleyna in the jail cell, it was very clever and almost reminded me of Catwoman the way she was just sliding her way through things. One thing I wished they would have talked about more was her feeling so lonely, it's a very brief conversation she has with her lover when he asks what she feels every night and it's never touched on again. She goes through this tough time as a child and it was just like to see her as an adult was more about the fighting and not the struggles she faces at times. But the actors did a good job, much credit to the man who played her uncle, Cliff Curtis, who had excellent chemistry with her. The film does need to explain more with the story but I felt that this was still a good movie with it's action and characters. Zoe is a good actress and I can't wait to see her more in the future.
7/10
Fabio, a gangster and drug runner, has a meeting with Don Luis, 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 wants, a small disk with valuable information on the drug lords, so he rushes home to prepare his wife, Alicia and his young daughter, Cataleya. Fabio hands Cataleya the item that Don Luis wants, telling her not to lose it and to give it to the Ambassador telling her that it is "her passport". He also gives Cataleya an address in Chicago. She then uses the business card her father gave her to get into the U.S. Embassy and goes to the Ambassador's office. In exchange for this, they give her a passport and a small amount of cash, and fly her to Miami. She goes to Chicago after and meets her uncle Emilio, who teaches her how to become one of the slickest killers. She grows into a strong woman who eventually goes in above her head going into a personal revenge plot on her parent's death.
The story may be predictable, but I liked the way it was handled over all. The action scenes were very tight and exciting. I loved that first scene with Cataleyna in the jail cell, it was very clever and almost reminded me of Catwoman the way she was just sliding her way through things. One thing I wished they would have talked about more was her feeling so lonely, it's a very brief conversation she has with her lover when he asks what she feels every night and it's never touched on again. She goes through this tough time as a child and it was just like to see her as an adult was more about the fighting and not the struggles she faces at times. But the actors did a good job, much credit to the man who played her uncle, Cliff Curtis, who had excellent chemistry with her. The film does need to explain more with the story but I felt that this was still a good movie with it's action and characters. Zoe is a good actress and I can't wait to see her more in the future.
7/10