In Colombiana, a new action star is born -- and her name is Zoe Saldana. Saldana plays Cataleya, an assassin seeking revenge over the death of her parents at the hands of a crime lord. Throughout the film, one senses her vulnerability. She’s got a ruthless edge too that would make Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt (from the Mission: Impossible series) go green with envy; yet underneath the rough exterior lies the flesh and blood weakness of a human being. 

Columbiana moves at a wonderful clip in terms of both action and script. Filmmaker Luc Besson (Leon) had a hand in its creation, which explains the economical approach taken. Co-writer Robert Mark Kamen lends his experience to this enterprise. His writing goes all the way back to Taps (1981) with Sean Penn and George C. Scott. Together, they set aside making the characters look and sound good. Their mission involves providing escapism with a hard edge.

The violence never feels gratuitous (it doesn’t last long enough to do that). Instead, a violent encounter lasts seconds rather than being put through an elongated, slow motion effect. The result seems closer to the Jason Bourne franchise as opposed to XXX (2002) with Vin Diesel.

Other points of interest in an exciting action thriller are clever plot elements and a minimum of shortcuts. So often, the tendency for filmmakers to compress a script becomes “the bad guy lives over there” scenario. With Colombiana, director Olivier Megaton accounts for each beat by planning ahead and thinking carefully about the next movement in the story. For instance, when Cataleya’s hideout is discovered, it works as a believable plot progression. Her escape feels equally sublime. In other words, you won’t be left scratching your head at the important parts.

In the editing room, Camille Delamarre doesn’t put a foot wrong. The picture will probably be remembered for the spectacle; however, I came away with something more valid -- a sense of being in the presence of some memorable movie magic. From the opening, I quickly came to the conclusion that the editing would not call unnecessary attention to itself. Unlike Oscar winner The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), there is no jarring experience with the cuts. It flows wonderfully well.

By year’s end, I hope that Saldana and editor Delamarre receive some serious Oscar attention for their dazzling work on Colombiana.

(Released by TriStar Pictures and rated "PG-13" for violence, disturbing images, intense sequences of action, sexuality and brief strong language.)