B+


This movie reminded me why I want Luc Besson to return to the action genre finally. The movie is not on par with his masterpiece Léon - The Professional, but it is still a great effort. I have never seen the US remake and in fact, I just saw the original a couple of weeks ago, but this is really good stuff. Just like The Professional it is not a flat out actioner, but much rather a psycho-drama filled with action. Nikita was made before The Professional and that shows. The pace is less even and the movie's direction is uncertain at times. But this is where fundaments for The Professional were layed. Anne Parillaud delivers a tremendous performance as a very disturbed and often misunderstood loner who can never live a normal life anymore. The action scenes are actually very few and far inbetween, but once they kick in, they are excellent. Léon's Jean Reno makes a very appearance here as Victor The Cleaner which is not too far away from his character in The Professional. It is not a flawless film, but it is very different from most action movies that we see nowadays and Léon is really the closest comparison. I recommend it.

I liked this more than Leon. Besson's best movie and one of the best foreign films I've seen. It's pretty bleak though and not one to watch repeatedly, so I don't own it. The scene in the restaurant when she thinks she's going on a night out or even a date and is given a gun and told to kill someone, is handled so well. From her crushing disappointment to her doing it, to the panic at the walled off exit she'd planned to use. The ending is somewhat over the top but I guess that's not surprising for the action genre.