I don't have all that much to say about Colombiana, which I saw this weekend. It's well-acted (save for one overwrought emotional exposition moment in the third act), and the action sequences are suitably tight and intense. But the most noteworthy thing about this film is that its PG-13. Not only do we have yet another adult-themed and relatively violent action picture that has been awarded a PG-13 rating, but you can clearly see and hear the alterations that went into the original product to make it so. You can see the haphazard editing around the onscreen violence. You can hear the muffling of gun shots and other sounds of violence (screams, punching, kicking, etc). Colombiana is an adult film with adult sensibilities. Yet in this current market, it was considered unwise to release this violent action picture with an R-rating. It's been over ten years since the Joseph Lieberman-speared committee into the marketing of R-rated pictures effectively put a clamp on the 'for audiences 17 and over or with a parental guardian' rating when it came to mainstream entertainment. And it's been ten years since we saw the effective end of adult-oriented R-rated fare in mainstream cinemas.
