“Miss Bala”

Columbia Pictures

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

Starring Gina Rodriguez, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Anthony Mackie, Thomas Dekker, Matt Lauria and Aislinn Derbez

Rated PG-13

3 Stars

I freely admit that I wasn’t expecting much from the new movie, “Miss Bala.” This Gina Rodriguez action thriller didn’t have much in the way of pre-release buzz, and it had an unwarranted social media embargo that left me expecting the worst.

In fact, I was already writing my headline before seeing the show — something along the lines of “Miss Bala” lives up to the “Miss” part of its title.

It turns out that the film actually lived up to the “Bala” part of its title because I had a “ball” at this tight little crime thriller.

Based on a popular Mexican film from 2013, “Miss Bala” tells the story of an American woman named Gloria (Gina Rodriguez) who travels to Tijuana to help her friend prepare for the Miss Baja California beauty pageant. The two women decide to hit a nightclub one night before the competition and suddenly find themselves caught up in a war between a brutal drug cartel and the corrupt local police.

As if surviving a nightclub shoot out isn’t traumatic enough, Gloria is kidnapped by the drug cartel, where she meets its very charismatic leader, Lino, played by Ismael Cruz Cordova. This is a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and our heroine has piqued his interest.

The rest of the story basically deals with Gloria fending off Pino’s advances while trying to find out what happened to her friend (Cristina Rodio). She desperately tries to escape, while the gang forces her to work for them, eventually having her participate in the beauty pageant in a far-fetched plan to assassinate the chief of police.

The overall story is rather outlandish, but it works thanks to Rodriguez and her supporting cast of oddly appealing drug cartel members. Good heroes need to test themselves against strong villains, and these bad guys are very good at being bad.

Some of it does fall a little flat, partially due to the need to take the Mexican material and make it palatable for an international audience. I laughed when one character said something in Spanish, and then helpfully repeated it in English, just in case the Mexicans working with him suddenly forgot their own native tongue.

That’s a mechanical quibble. All things considered, “Miss Bala” works because of Rodriguez and her supporting cast, an intriguing story, and some pretty good production values thanks to director Catherine Hardwicke.

I may not have been expecting much, but I’m always happy when a film like “Miss Bala” turns out to be a nice cinematic surprise.

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are each week in “The Port Arthur News” and seen weekly on KFDM and Fox4. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@sbgtv.com.