Luc Besson, the writer behind such action favorites as The Professional and The Transporter, is back in female assassin territory with, Colombiana, directed by the ridiculously named Olivier Megaton. Starring Zoe Saldana, Colombiana deals with a killer chick who gets revenge on her parents’ slayers years after their death.
Back in 1994, when The Professional debuted, female assassins were pretty rare, but flicks like Domino and Hanna have come out and expanded upon the subject. It remains to be seen whether or not Besson can add something new to the story or if he’s just out of touch.
Unfortunately, the trailer suggests the latter. Many of the adrenaline-fueled action flicks that have flooded the market recently (Taken and The Mechanic, for instance) come to mind while watching the clip, and Colombiana doesn’t look like it’s going to stretch too far above the already established notions of action movies being loud, violent, and full of gratuitous sex. Which is at least tolerable when you've got Saldana in tiny lingerie and carrying heavy firepower.
Speaking of which, Saldana does have the raw sex appeal and brooding veneer that just might just make this one work. But if there isn’t a fresh story behind it, Saldana’s performance will just get lost in the shuffle.
Will Besson and Megaton actually make this well worn genre fresh again? We’ll see when Colombiana is released on September 2.
[Via Yahoo! Movies]
