When ten year old Cataleya's father 'retires' from his job as a hit-man for a Colombian drug lord he knows he and his family will have to get away fast. He isn't fast enough though and Cataleya is left an orphan fleeing for her life. Before he died her father gave her an address and a memory card
her passport to a new life in the United States. Once in the states she heads to her uncle in Chicago hoping he will help her in her mission to kill those responsible. He makes her go to school and the next time we see her fifteen years have passed
but her desire for revenge hasn't dimmed. The first target we see her take out is in police custody; locked in an apparently secure jail cell. She doesn't just kill him she draws the outline of an orchid on his chest and it is at this point we learn that this man is far from her first victim and the FBI, led by Special Agent James Ross are searching for the killer
not for one moment thinking they are hunting a woman.
As this film was written by Luc Besson it isn't surprising that it reminds many people of his films 'Nikita' and 'Leon' and while I don't think this was as good as those films it is still entertaining. Zoe Saldana does a solid job as protagonist Cataleya although unfortunately the character isn't all that sympathetic; when she isn't killing people for revenge she is doing it for money and being fairly sadistic in the process. Lennie James is also good in the roll of Agent Ross; not an action man but a thinking detective. Michael Vartan also features although he is somewhat underused as Cataleya's love interest Danny Delanay. While the characters aren't too well developed and the situation is rather cliché it is still an entertaining film as the action moves at a good pace and was pretty exciting without being overly gory. Overall I'd say if you like action led thrillers and aren't looking for anything too cerebral to pass a couple of hours you could do a lot worse than this.
As this film was written by Luc Besson it isn't surprising that it reminds many people of his films 'Nikita' and 'Leon' and while I don't think this was as good as those films it is still entertaining. Zoe Saldana does a solid job as protagonist Cataleya although unfortunately the character isn't all that sympathetic; when she isn't killing people for revenge she is doing it for money and being fairly sadistic in the process. Lennie James is also good in the roll of Agent Ross; not an action man but a thinking detective. Michael Vartan also features although he is somewhat underused as Cataleya's love interest Danny Delanay. While the characters aren't too well developed and the situation is rather cliché it is still an entertaining film as the action moves at a good pace and was pretty exciting without being overly gory. Overall I'd say if you like action led thrillers and aren't looking for anything too cerebral to pass a couple of hours you could do a lot worse than this.