Name: Medellin
Director: Franck Gastambide
Released: 2023-06-02T18:16:20

In Medellin, Reda attempts to save his brother after he gets kidnapped by a dangerous drug cartel. The action-comedy film is now streaming on Prime Video.

Story

Reda (Franck Gastambide) and Stan (Ramzy Bedia) are practically brothers. The former’s family even adopted the latter after his family died.

Currently, Reda coaches kids in a boxing gym and has always dreamt of becoming a champion but was too afraid to enter the ring.

Reda’s younger brother, Brahim (Brahim Bouhlel), is a YouTuber who looks up to and impersonates Pablo Escobar. He gets kidnapped by a cartel in Colombia for mocking him.

Now, Reda and Stan, along with Chafik (Anouar Toubali), a dwarf member of the boxing gym, must travel to Colombia to save Brahim.

But they cannot fathom the twists and turns that await them as they get entangled with dangerous and ruthless criminals.

Performances

The film primarily plays in the comedy genre, which makes the characters extremely exaggerated, and limits what the actors can do.

Out of the bunch, Gastambide stands out as the more level-headed member while the rest only add to the comic relief.

Positives

Medellin is entertaining in parts and never takes itself too seriously, despite the rather grave premise. That’s where it’s at its strongest.

The humour lands at certain moments. The runtime is adequate for the plot and the film does not drag at any point.

Negatives

Although it tries to fit some sombre moments, this isn’t executed well. It’s hard to feel truly emotional at any point because it comes out of the blue.

The narrative is weak and many of the plot points do not make sense. The set of events mostly feels forced just to further the storyline.

The portrayal also feels farfetched. The characters come out of dire situations way too easily for a bunch that isn’t even trained for combat.

Medellin is ultimately unable to decide whether it’s not taking itself seriously or attempting to portray a bonafide action movie.

Verdict

Medellin is not a tough watch and you might find yourself enjoying it. But in terms of a film that falls in the underutilised action-comedy genre, it doesn’t break any boundaries.