As Lucy shoots its strategy to the highest of Netflix‘s most-watched film charts a decade after its theatrical launch, hardcore motion followers ought to keep on the platform and flock to Colombiana, one other Luc Besson-conceived murderer thriller that perfects the vigilante revenge method. Furthermore, following Zoe Saldaña’s starkly completely different, Oscar-winning efficiency in final 12 months’s Emilia Pérez, viewers will come away from Colombiana with a a lot better appreciation for her motion film bona fides.
Though it does not boast the drug-induced superhero facet Lucy does, Colombiana is a stylishly entertaining wrinkle within the age-old one-person revenge story. Launched three years earlier than Lucy, it may be argued that Besson took what he discovered, good and dangerous, from the Colombiana expertise and utilized it to Lucy, which drew extra reward from critics however not essentially audiences. But, if Lucy spoke extra to skilled film reviewers, this is why Colombiana resonates extra with hardcore motion followers.
Colombiana
- Launch Date
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July 27, 2011
- Runtime
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105minutes
Zoe Saldaña Is a Expert Murderer in ‘Colombiana’
Luc Besson wrote Colombiana with Robert Mark Kamen, handing directorial duties to French filmmaker Olivier Megaton. Dealt with with fashionable verve by Megaton, the easy conceit issues Cataleya (Saldaña), a Colombian girl hell-bent on avenging her mother and father’ assassin after witnessing her household slaughtered by a drug lord in Bogotá when she was 9. Earlier than the bloodbath, Cataleya’s father handed her an SD card with knowledge in regards to the assassin, Don Luis Sandoval (Beto Benites), who despatched his henchman, Marco (Jordi Mollà), to kill the household.
15 years later, in 2007, Cataleya has neither forgotten nor forgiven Don Luis for killing her father, whom she learns he was within the drug enterprise with. Over the previous decade-plus, Cataleya has risen by the Colombian underworld as a highly-skilled and emotionally indifferent murderer who murders high-priced targets. Cataleya’s calling card is the Cattleya flower, an indigenous orchid she leaves at each crime scene to attract Don Luis out of hiding and actual her revenge.
With the one-track thoughts to eradicate Don Luis and each protector in her approach, Cataleya exhibits relentless guile and unremitting resolve as she blasts her approach by a throng of dangerous guys. The plot thickens, nevertheless, when the FBI will get concerned after launching a manhunt for the particular person answerable for over 20 murders. With Cataleya focusing on Don Luis and his males, and the FBI focusing on Cataleya, Colombiana rushes towards its bullet-laced, blood-soaked decision with bustling brio.
How Besson Refined the Murderer-Revenge Thriller With ‘Lucy’
Three years after Colombiana was launched, Luc Besson upped the ante with Lucy, the primary murderer film he had written and directed since Leon: The Skilled in 1994 and a style he has been perfecting since La Femme Nikita in 1990. Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson because the titular murderer, with the plot’s high-concept specializing in a drug deal gone awry, leading to Lucy gaining superhuman psychokinetic powers after the artificial CPH4 enters her system and unlocks untapped brainpower.
As soon as CPH4 flows by her bloodstream, Lucy turns into a super-powered murderer with unmatched cognition and intelligence. Useless set on avenging those that kidnapped her and compelled her to ingest the drug, Lucy turns into the identical sort of one-person military that followers have come to know and love about Colombiana.
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The latter could not boast the identical absurd premise that justifies the ridiculous motion that ensues, but, so far as watching unbiased ladies reclaim their lives, taking their fates into their very own fingers, and serving swift justice to those that wronged them, each motion pictures have Besson’s literal title written throughout them. Past the movies he has directed, the vigilante revenge method is one Besson has stamped with all the pieces from Taken, The Transporter, From Paris with Love, Lockout, 3 Days to Kill, and others.
Though ‘Lucy’ Was Extra Profitable, Audiences Desire ‘Colombiana’
Attributable to its intoxicating premise, Johannson’s star energy, and Besson’s style mastery, Lucy was a runaway business hit when it opened theatrically in 2014. The movie grossed $458 million globally on a $40 million price range (through Field Workplace Mojo), incomes over 11 instances its value. Against this, Colombiana grossed $63 million worldwide in opposition to a $10 million price ticket, a average business success for TriStar Footage and Stage 6 Movies.
Lucy additionally carried out higher critically, with 67% of film critiques on Rotten Tomatoes praising the over-the-top premise and reflective tone. But, the identical points lauded by critics — specifically, the brain-unlocking conceit — had been roundly rebuked by normal audiences who discovered it too foolish and unrealistic to bear. In 2025, Lucy holds a 47% Popcornmeter score on RT and a C+ Cinemascore grade.
In the meantime, Colombiana fared higher amongst informal moviegoers than critics, holding a 28% Tomatometer (critic rating) in comparison with a 67% Popcornmeter (viewers rating), and a Cinemascore grade of A-. Translation: Hardcore motion fanatics who loved Lucy will obtain an irrepressible blast whereas watching Colombiana on Netflix. With Lucy, Besson went too far with the formulaic excesses that made his earlier work like La Femme Nikita so contemporary and exhilarating.
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Past the lean, imply, no-nonsense method to Colombiana‘s violent tenor, Saldaña provides simply as compelling a efficiency as Johansson in Lucy. In a approach, Colombiana‘s underrated standing mirrors Saldaña’s profession as an underappreciated motion star whose motion pictures have grossed over $15 billion internationally, changing into the second-highest-grossing main actress in historical past (through Work and Cash).
Johannson could have the glitz, glamour, and the extra profitable Besson motion film underneath her belt, but with Colombiana, Saldaña reminds everybody that she is a business drive to be reckoned with. Over a decade after every actor labored on a Besson murderer thriller, Saldaña gained an Academy Award, whereas Johannson has two nominations. Whereas the awards comparability has little bearing on the advice of Colombiana, the purpose is that Saldaña’s mega-successful motion film profession has flown underneath the radar — very like Colombiana itself.
As for Besson, he has a handful of tasks in improvement, together with Lucy 2, which is reportedly within the writing section. As he continues to refine the murderer revenge thriller format, all eyes flip to see if Johansson will return to reprise the title position. Till extra clarification comes, Netflix subscribers who loved violent, fast-paced thrills in Lucy will probably be beside themselves when Colombiana runs its course. Lucy and Colombiana can be found to stream on Netflix.