|
Directed by: Luc Besson Starring: Anne Parillaud, Tcheky Karyo, Jean-Hugues Anglade Released in 1990, Luc Besson's French film Nikita, or alternatively La Femme Nikita later spawned a successful TV series, a less well received Hollywood remake (Point of No Return) and inspired many other productions ranging from the television show Alias to a number of Hong Kong exploitation movies. After killing several police officers when gripped in a drug-induced haze whilst robbing a pharmacy, Nikita (Anne Parillaud) is sentenced to death… or so her poor mother thinks. In reality she’s being put through a program to train her as a highly trained government assassin, supervised by the sympathetic but at times unforgiving Agent Bob (Tcheky Karyo) Eventually released back into society, Nikita soon finds a job and a boyfriend, who soon decide to move in and buy an apartment together. But every so often she is pulled back into the past when she receives that eerie phone call from the government requesting for her services... Nikita isn’t that much of an action film, it’s more a character study with some bits of shooting thrown in. With the exception of the murkily shot opening and thrilling restaurant hit that goes pear-shaped halfway through the film, the action is actually fairly akin to what was in Besson's Leon: slow, tense sequences that play out with quick, final results. But don’t let this put you off as the excellent performances by Parillaud and Karyo end up being the core of the movie, their bittersweet, quirky relationship that forms during their time together supporting the film long enough to develop the initially one-dimensional Nikita character into one deep enough to carry the rest of the film on her own, juggling the happiness of having a great “normal” life with her reluctant role as a cold blooded killer. In this half, Parillaud easily overshadows Anglade, the actor playing Nikita’s eventual boyfriend, but in the end these scenes sans-Karyo aren’t nearly as involving as those with him, though they wrap his story rather nicely with a dinner held between the three. Plus keep your eyes peeled for an unforgettable turn by Jean Reno in the small role of a “cleaner” who comes to the aid of Nikita when her last mission goes awry. Though also saddled with a nice but somewhat dated Eric Serra score and some stylish cinematography, Nikita is a movie that, while a bit lighter on action than it’s contemporaries, still is an involving film with a great on-screen relationship between the lead characters and excellent performances by Anne Parillaud and Tcheky Karyo. 4/5 PROS: A quirky but involving relationship that grows between the leads. CONS: Less action than the subsequent contemporaries. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100263/ mrkillboy fucked around with this message at 18:17 on May 8, 2004 |
#
?
May 8, 2004 15:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 20:48 |
|
|
I just saw this for the first time last week. I loved it. Don't bother with any of the remakes or TV series. 5
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2004 06:51
|
|