As Lucy shoots its way to the top of Netflix‘s most-watched movie charts a decade after its theatrical release, hardcore action fans should stay on the platform and flock to Colombiana, another Luc Besson-conceived assassin thriller that perfects the vigilante revenge formula. Moreover, following Zoe Saldaña’s starkly different, Oscar-winning performance in last year’s Emilia Pérez, viewers will come away from Colombiana with a much greater appreciation for her action movie bona fides.
Although it doesn’t boast the drug-induced superhero aspect Lucy does, Colombiana is a stylishly entertaining wrinkle in the age-old one-person revenge tale. Released three years before Lucy, it can be argued that Besson took what he learned, good and bad, from the Colombiana experience and applied it to Lucy, which drew more praise from critics but not necessarily audiences. Yet, if Lucy spoke more to professional movie reviewers, here’s why Colombiana resonates more with hardcore action fans.
Release Date
July 27, 2011
Runtime
105minutes
Zoe Saldaña Is a Skilled Assassin in ‘Colombiana’
Luc Besson wrote Colombiana with Robert Mark Kamen, handing directorial duties to French filmmaker Olivier Megaton. Handled with stylish verve by Megaton, the simple conceit concerns Cataleya (Saldaña), a Colombian woman hell-bent on avenging her parents’ murderer after witnessing her family slaughtered by a drug lord in Bogotá when she was nine. Before the massacre, Cataleya’s father handed her an SD card with data about the murderer, Don Luis Sandoval (Beto Benites), who sent his henchman, Marco (Jordi Mollà), to kill the family.
15 years later, in 2007, Cataleya has neither forgotten nor forgiven Don Luis for killing her father, whom she learns he was in the drug business with. Over the past decade-plus, Cataleya has risen through the Colombian underworld as a highly-skilled and emotionally detached assassin who murders high-priced targets. Cataleya’s calling card is the Cattleya flower, an indigenous orchid she leaves at every crime scene to draw Don Luis out of hiding and exact her revenge.
With the one-track mind to eliminate Don Luis and every protector in her way, Cataleya shows relentless guile and unremitting resolve as she blasts her way through a throng of bad guys. The plot thickens, however, when the FBI gets involved after launching a manhunt for the person responsible for over 20 murders. With Cataleya targeting Don Luis and his men, and the FBI targeting Cataleya, Colombiana rushes toward its bullet-laced, blood-soaked resolution with bustling brio.
How Besson Refined the Assassin-Revenge Thriller With ‘Lucy’
Three years after Colombiana was released, Luc Besson upped the ante with Lucy, the first assassin movie he had written and directed since Leon: The Professional in 1994 and a genre he has been perfecting since La Femme Nikita in 1990. Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson as the titular assassin, with the plot’s high-concept focusing on a drug deal gone awry, resulting in Lucy gaining superhuman psychokinetic powers after the synthetic CPH4 enters her system and unlocks untapped brainpower.
Once CPH4 flows through her bloodstream, Lucy becomes a super-powered assassin with unmatched cognition and intelligence. Dead set on avenging those who abducted her and forced her to ingest the drug, Lucy becomes the same kind of one-person army that fans have come to know and love about Colombiana.
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The latter may not boast the same absurd premise that justifies the ridiculous action that ensues, yet, as far as watching independent women reclaim their lives, taking their fates into their own hands, and serving swift justice to those who wronged them, both movies have Besson’s literal name written all over them. Beyond the films he has directed, the vigilante revenge formula is one Besson has stamped with everything from Taken, The Transporter, From Paris with Love, Lockout, 3 Days to Kill, and others.
Although ‘Lucy’ Was More Successful, Audiences Prefer ‘Colombiana’
Due to its intoxicating premise, Johannson’s star power, and Besson’s genre mastery, Lucy was a runaway commercial hit when it opened theatrically in 2014. The film grossed $458 million globally on a $40 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), earning over 11 times its cost. By contrast, Colombiana grossed $63 million worldwide against a $10 million price tag, a moderate commercial success for TriStar Pictures and Stage 6 Films.
Lucy also performed better critically, with 67% of movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes praising the over-the-top premise and reflective tone. Yet, the same aspects lauded by critics — namely, the brain-unlocking conceit — were roundly rebuked by general audiences who found it too silly and unrealistic to bear. In 2025, Lucy holds a 47% Popcornmeter rating on RT and a C+ Cinemascore grade.
Meanwhile, Colombiana fared better among casual moviegoers than critics, holding a 28% Tomatometer (critic score) compared to a 67% Popcornmeter (audience score), and a Cinemascore grade of A-. Translation: Hardcore action enthusiasts who enjoyed Lucy will receive an irrepressible blast while watching Colombiana on Netflix. With Lucy, Besson went too far with the formulaic excesses that made his earlier work like La Femme Nikita so fresh and exhilarating.
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Beyond the lean, mean, no-nonsense approach to Colombiana’s violent tenor, Saldaña gives just as compelling a performance as Johansson in Lucy. In a way, Colombiana’s underrated status mirrors Saldaña’s career as an underappreciated action star whose movies have grossed over $15 billion internationally, becoming the second-highest-grossing leading actress in history (via Work and Money).
Johannson may have the glitz, glamour, and the more successful Besson action movie under her belt, yet with Colombiana, Saldaña reminds everyone that she is a commercial force to be reckoned with. Over a decade after each actor worked on a Besson assassin thriller, Saldaña won an Academy Award, while Johannson has two nominations. While the awards comparison has little bearing on the recommendation of Colombiana, the point is that Saldaña’s mega-successful action movie career has flown under the radar — much like Colombiana itself.
As for Besson, he has a handful of projects in development, including Lucy 2, which is reportedly in the writing phase. As he continues to refine the assassin revenge thriller format, all eyes turn to see if Johansson will return to reprise the title role. Until more clarification comes, Netflix subscribers who enjoyed violent, fast-paced thrills in Lucy will be beside themselves when Colombiana runs its course. Lucy and Colombiana are available to stream on Netflix.
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