Here is one of the latest movie reviews for your reading pleasure. 'La Femme Nikita', by Stealthborn.
Movie: La Femme Nikita
Director: Luc Besson
Year: 1990
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Action
Running Time: 115 minutes
One thing about films that sucks the viewer in is three things: Story, Characters and Substance. Those are the things that I look for at least when I go watch a film that determine whether it is a great film or one that doesn't quite have enough steam. La Femme Nikita is an interesting film that has some of the three things involved, though they come together in an unlikely fashion. Though there is much to examine with this film about how things evolve and come together to center around a woman who is one of the most complex I've ever witnessed.
The film starts off with a group of tennage delinquents who break into a pharmacy looking for drugs. We get our first glimpse of a young girl simply named Nikita (Anne Parillaud) who is a heroin junkie who wants a fix. Not long after they break in, it gets nasty when the police get involved and a shoot out occurs, ending up with all of the thugs getting killed saved for Nikita who kills a police officer while suffering from withdrawl symptoms. This in turn gets her arrested, thrown in jail and imprisoned for life with parole in 30 years. She is then drugged afterwards to simulate a death sentence and she "dies", before waking up in a simple room where a man simply known as Bob enters and tells her that she is in custody of the DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security). She is given the choice of either working as an assassin for them or get killed. After some hard knocks within the
organization, Nikita is transformed from a grimy piece of trash into a femme fatale and then does assassination missions for the DGSE, including what could be the highlight of the film where she has to kill a diplomat in a crowded restaurant and escape, though it doesn't go according to plan. She passes though and gets to move on to bigger assignments and be on her own in a way, but still watched and orders by her superiors. In the process, she gets to know a young man who works at a supermarket and gets into a relationship with him, but doesn't say anything about her profession. But as the story goes, on, Nikita has a difficult choice to make by either staying with the organization or having a life with her boyfriend, along with a couple of other surprises along the way.
Oddly enough, this film wasn't exactly given the best reviews in Luc Besson's home country. Though in the U.S., critics and moviegoers loved it. This was Luc Besson's biggest film and only the 2nd one known to U.S. audiences at the time (The Big Blue
was the first taste that everyone would get of Besson in the U.S.). After this film, it helped bring success for Besson with him being able to direct films like Leon the Professional and The 5th Element afterwards, which would later catch on with people.
It also brought some notice to Jean Reno who ironically enough plays a cleaner in this movie. That would get him to play a cleaner in Leon the Professional and would have him be in many movies after that which U.S. audiences would see. The film also
paved the way for a tv series that was shown on USA Network for a while and lasting for a few seasons.
There are a few characters who make up the film like the thugs in the beginning, who, although they don't last long, they make themselves known with their actions and their destructive behavior. There is the Victor the cleaner who comes in with such brute
force to pick up the pieces later on in the story and is self-explanatory. There is also Amande, a woman who gets Nikita to be more feminine and also is like her in a way having been saved by the DGSE, her boyfriend Marco who doesn't know much about Nikita in general but loves her regardless though slowly putting the clues together on who she is and Bob who is a hardened agent who stands up for Nikita in certain areas because he wants to train her and because he has fallen for her deep inside. But the real spotlight is on Niita herself. Now to be honest, Nikita is someone who people either are going to really appreciate or have a strong dislike for her. I found myself somewhere in the middle. In the beginning, she is a simple street goon who is hooked on drugs and has no real hope for the future at the rate she's going. After the pharmacy killing, she is then put into
a situation where she can either change and live or have her life end there. She chooses to live, although she still has a cold-blooded sense about her and will perform actions without remorse. This is until she meets Marco and then she starts to appreciate life and doesn't want to kill anyone nearing the end of the film. She starts to understand what life is and takes it more for granted. And considering the fact that she would be considered borderline psychotic at first, she really transforms in such a way from the beginning that you wouldn't even know it was the same girl. If you can get past Nikita's actions in the beginning, then you can see how deep her character is. She looks for freedom after being held hostage by drugs and the DGSE and looks for a way out. I may not like her character completely, but I can sympathize with her strangely enough.
There is much to like about this film altogether, but there are a few things that keep it from being perfect. The character of Nikita herself is hit or miss for people depending on how deep they want their movie experience to be. I got around it, but some other people might find a hard time doing so. There aren't too many action scenes in the film, though the ones that stood out for me were when she used the Desert Eagle in the restaurant to eliminate the diplomat and the AUG to take out a target in Venice. Those scenes did help keep the adrenaline going, though some action fans might take a slight offense to a lack of scenes. Also, Victor the cleaner in my opinion is a bad cleaner. I would explain more, but I don't want to ruin it. But if you see it for yourself, you'll know what I mean.
So what to make of La Femme Nikita? While not Luc Besson's best film out there, it does have an enticing story to follow. The story is what kept me interested in this film overall. It isn't for everyone, but watch it anyway to see where Luc Besson took it and how it was in a way a small blueprint for Leon the Professional (though the films only share a few similarities). But otherwise, highly enjoyable for the most part.
7 femme fatales out of 10 (7/10)
Now here's some facts!
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0100263/trivia
IMDB.com rating
7.5/10
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