Gina Rodriguez deserves her own star vehicle, without a doubt, but she also deserves something better than this mercenary remake of the 2011 Mexican film about an innocent young woman caught between drug dealers and the law. The original Miss Bala was a slyly feminist take on what could have easily been an exploitation flick. Guess what? This Miss Bala weirdly sexualizes things to undermine everything the original was interested in and become, yep, an exploitation flick. Rather than an abuser, as before, the crime boss who kidnaps Rodriguez’s character is a green-eyed dreamboat (Ismael Cruz-Cordova) who’s really just misunderstood. (The threats of sexual violence are played as seductions, not violations.) Meanwhile, the beauty contest that served as ironic commentary earlier registers as a retrograde makeover sequence. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, whose record with films involving exploitation and questionable relationships (Thirteen, Twilight) suggests we probably should have seen this coming.
