Nikita
After being an accessory to a robbery that led to the murder of a police officer, young Nikita is given the stark choice of execution or being enlisted into a secret government agency to be trained as a professional assassin. Not surprisingly, she decides on the latter and is soon under the supervision of a cool-headed secret agent (played by Tcheky Karyo) and his colleagues. Soon she is given the codename of Josephine and is ordered to perform assassinations on their behalf whilst trying to rebuild her own life.
Being the work of Luc Besson, there is plenty of slick action, a tense atmosphere and some superb performances. Karyo makes a great job as Nikita’s mentor ‘Bob’, in which he manages to show alternately cold ruthlessness and almost fatherly affection for his feral protégé. Anne Parillaud makes a convincing transformation from streetwise waif to efficient killer and Jean Reno takes up a role not unlike his lead in Leon. It is also interesting to see how headstrong heroine’s transformation during training, and the challenges she has to face as an assassin while keeping her occupation secret from her new husband. As much as she routinely takes the lives of strangers without question, there is no denying that she is a human being behind the loaded gun who constantly has to set aside her personal feelings to accomplish her missions.
The photography and choreography of the action scenes is real edge-of-your-seat material and the musical score is extremely well-handled by Eric Serra (another frequent Besson collaborator). The DVD offers both a French language track with subtitles, or an English dub (which, unusually for a live action film, is surprisingly convincing). There isn’t much in the way of extra features, however: merely a theatrical trailer.
In Summary
A tense, fast-paced thriller that brings a whole new meaning to the term femme fatale. Superior to both the American remake and the spin-off TV series, Besson’s original is a real rollercoaster ride.
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