Miss Bala

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Miss Bala follows Gina Rodriguez’s Gloria Fuentes as she’s thrust into a dangerous situation involving all manner of shady, crooked characters. Filmmaker Hardwicke, working from a script by Gareth Dunnett-Alcocer, delivers a watchable yet hopelessly forgettable endeavor that’s been suffused with a whole host of generic attributes, and there’s little doubt, as a result, that the movie is rarely (if ever) as tense or compelling as its subject matter might’ve indicated – with Hardwicke’s inability to generate any real tension or thrills essentially (and effectively) perpetuating the arms-length atmosphere. It’s fairly surprising to note, then, that Miss Bala remains relatively (and surprisingly) watchable throughout, with Rodriguez’s strong performance and the briskly-paced, twist-laden narrative generally sustaining the viewer’s interest and compensating for the less-than-successful stretches – which, when coupled with a ludicrously larger-than-life (yet undeniably entertaining) climax, ultimately does cement the picture’s place as a decent-enough remake that fares better than its art-house predecessor.

**1/2 out of ****