Miss Bala

Miss Bala

Starring Gina Rodriguez, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Anthony Mackie, Cristina Rodlo

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

The Story:
After moving to the States to work as a makeup artist, Gloria Fuentes (Gina Rodriguez) returns to her hometown of Tijuana to visit her best friend Suzu (Cristina Rodlo) as she enters the Miss Baja California pageant.  The two friends reconnect at a party when it's attacked by a drug cartel, and Suzu is taken.

Gloria goes to the police, but finds herself taken captive herself by drug cartel leader Lino Esparza (Ismael Cruz Cordova), who keeps women prisoner for his own amusement.  He uses Gloria to blow up a DEA safe house, and when she escapes Lino she finds herself at the mercy of DEA officials, who threaten to put her in prison unless she infiltrates Lino's organization.  Trapped between a rock and a hard place and with no one to trust, Gloria must find the strength inside to make it out alive and save her friend in the process.

The Synopsis:
"Miss Bala" is the American version of the Spanish film of the same title released in 2011, before Americans were really informed on the dangers of Mexican drug cartels.  I've never seen (or even heard of) the original, and many people have compared the two, so obviously I won't be doing that.  On the basis of the film itself, while I found Gina Rodriguez intriguing and a strong female lead, I felt the film was rather muddied by a boring script, no character development, stereotypical characters, and a paint-by-numbers story that leads to the most obvious conclusion.

The film should've been an exciting, action-packed adventure, but instead it was separated by many different avenues that never had a complete whole.  There's parts of the film that focuses on a beauty pageant that only serves to move the film to the finale, but seems so rushed and glossed over it could've been left out entirely.  It's understandable too that Gloria wants to find her friend, but there was several moments where she could've informed the real police of what was happening and possibly save everyone, but she opts to continue her own path.

Gina Rodriguez is stepping out of her "Jane the Virgin" comedic role into more meatier movie roles, including a supporting role in last year's sci-fi epic "Annihilation," and here she bursts forth as a leading femme fatale, and to that end she does a marvelous job.  She has this unique look about her that showcases both vulnerability and independence when the occasion arises, someone who can really play to both those strengths.  Yet "Miss Bala" doesn't give her a lot to work with, other than either just sit through like she's waiting for a bus, or bursting out of her cocoon with fierce determination - there's not a lot in between.

Likewise, the characters around her are typical, bland, and somewhat stereotypical, even if they wanted to make them more well-rounded.  We got the crooked police officers, the no-nonsense DEA officers who use threatening techniques to get what they want, a typical drug cartel including the always-distrustful second-hand-man who thinks the lead is indeed a mole, and the drug cartel leader himself who comes off as suave and handsome, but harbors a much darker side (it was funny, but during the film I felt that the relationship between Rodriguez's Gloria and Ismael Cruz Cordova's Lino were reminiscent of that of Bella and Edward from "Twilight," and then found that the woman who directed this film also directed that one as well).  The film tries to give Lino a more heroic arc, having him be an unregistered immigrant in America who was sent to Mexico where he began his life of crime, but ultimately a hero he is not - even if he's more acceptable than the DEA d-bags who basically threaten Gloria into actually working for Lino's cartel.

If you saw the trailer, you already know how it all plays out - and even if you didn't see the trailer, you can easily predict the outcome.  While the film does a decent job of keeping the suspense amped, we all know that Gloria is in no real danger, and everything will work out well for her.  To that end, the film maintains its course, never swerving from its typical method, which ultimately will conclude with nary a memory of it existing at all in the coming months.

The Summary:
Despite a strong showing by Gina Rodriguez, "Miss Bala" is bogged down by a simplistic script, no character development, and a boring, predictable course of action.

The Score: C-