February has become the go to destination for people trying to become action superstars, thanks to Liam Neeson. Each year someone new gives it a go, and this year its the…star of Jane the Virgin? Gina Rodriguez may be sweet on that show, but thanks to Annihilation last year, Rodriguez proves she can become a badass too. Miss Bala is fun because Rodriguez fits the bill, in spite of the script’s many attempts to delegitimize her.
Rodriguez plays Gloria, a sweet wanna be beauty pageant contestant longing from the makeup artist chair. Desperate to be even near the winner’s circle, Gloria takes a trip down to Mexico to help her friend Suzu (Christina Roldo) impress, which may or may not include having to, um, persuade Chief Saucedo (Damián Alcázar), a supporter, that Suzu is the best girl in Miss Baja California. Before Gloria has to make this awful decision, another awful one is thrust upon her: the Las Estrellas gang infiltrates the club her and Suzu are in. Suzu gets taken in the madness, and Gloria gets sucked into Las Estrellas’s activities, led by their leader Lino (Ismael Cruz Cordova).
Much like Gina Rodriguez’s Gloria, this movie is trapped between two worlds. Miss Bala is a remake of a Mexican film made a few years earlier. That film takes a VERY gritty look at this story, covering much more emotionally complex storytelling. The 2019 American movie is trying to make Gina Rodriguez into the Latina Liam Neeson. In trying to appeal to everyone, Catherine Hardwicke, the director, walks a very tough middle line that she never quite masters. I can see the seeds of the better 2011 film; the relationship between Gloria and Nino is developed in a somewhat interesting way, and Gloria’s arc into a woman of agency in a male dominated world is certainly compelling enough. However, the desire to get Rodriguez sauntering in that amazing red dress with a gun looking as intimidating as anyone never is developed enough in the story to earn that awesome moment. It looks cool, but it feels manipulative. Hardwicke seeks to cover up this character problem with some big action setpieces, but even those are too generic to stand out, and worse, they leave behind repeated gaping plot holes that Miss Bala never quite explains away. So what the movie becomes is that half thriller half over the top action movie that no one will quite love, but is destined to find a home on Netflix in the next year where it will be half watched for years to come.
Miss Bala is so forgettable that it only warrants this short description. Gina Rodriguez has the stuff, but here’s hoping better material comes along for her to become a great female action hero. Same goes for Hardwicke, who took really crappy fiction and make Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart household names.