Oh dear. A film that is hailed as a "classic". But I'm afraid it doesn't live up to its hype. There are plenty of problems with Nikita, and the gravity of these, in this modern day, outweighs its good points. The main problem is the story itself. The government decides to fake the death of a mentally deranged murdering drug addled junkie, in order to spend years training her to become a covert operative/assassin. Erm ... of all the people to chose from, they opted for that? Didn't they have any applicants?
O.k. We'll try and move past that and get on with the film ... only to find that the film doesn't really get on. Nikita settles down with a man, and then occasionally gets assigned jobs. However, these jobs are not particularly interesting, nor are they numerous enough to let quantity make up for quality. Then the film ends, after a "climax" which offers nothing of interest, and then leads to a bizarre end. I watched the credits arrive and I honestly thought I must have accidentally skipped the DVD forward by 10 chapters. Where's the rest of it? When's the good stuff going to start?
The film just doesn't know where it is supposed to be going. Is it an action film? Is it a film about a woman trying to change her life? Is it a film about the strengths of feminine guile? I'm not sure even Besson knows, and this shows in the fact that it seems to explore a few angles at various points in the film, but doesn't cement any of them, so you really don't get inspired by any of the options for discussion.
Perhaps 20 years ago the flaws would have been hidden somewhat by the "exciting" style of film making that Besson employed. But since many many films have copied this style since, you will be watching nothing new.
O.k. We'll try and move past that and get on with the film ... only to find that the film doesn't really get on. Nikita settles down with a man, and then occasionally gets assigned jobs. However, these jobs are not particularly interesting, nor are they numerous enough to let quantity make up for quality. Then the film ends, after a "climax" which offers nothing of interest, and then leads to a bizarre end. I watched the credits arrive and I honestly thought I must have accidentally skipped the DVD forward by 10 chapters. Where's the rest of it? When's the good stuff going to start?
The film just doesn't know where it is supposed to be going. Is it an action film? Is it a film about a woman trying to change her life? Is it a film about the strengths of feminine guile? I'm not sure even Besson knows, and this shows in the fact that it seems to explore a few angles at various points in the film, but doesn't cement any of them, so you really don't get inspired by any of the options for discussion.
Perhaps 20 years ago the flaws would have been hidden somewhat by the "exciting" style of film making that Besson employed. But since many many films have copied this style since, you will be watching nothing new.