Review of Nikita (1990) by Sylvester K — 17 Aug 2011

"La Femme Nikita" is one of the best thrillers ever made. Nikita (Parillaud) is a street junkie that is picked up by the cops after a violent heist pulled off by her and her gang. Government agent Bob (Karyo) gives her the opportunity to become an assassin instead of going to jail and she accepts.

She is trained for three years by him, and from then on is left to do missions on her own. In the process, she gets engaged to Marco (Anglade), a man who doesn't know anything about her past. When she falls harder for him, she then realizes that this job isn't what she thought it would be.

I've seen many foreign movies, and personally, "La Femme Nikita" is one of my favorites. Yes, it's an action film, but it's not the regular kind. It has stunning qualities, and blends gun-battles (you see a diversity of the weapon) with romance, and each genre is dealt with wonderfully.

You get just as much violence as "Kill Bill", but you still get a heck of a cheesy love story. When you get a bit of both, it almost makes the film have more flavor, because it would just be another action movie.

The visuals, the sound, and the effects all are great, and Anne Parillaud is the reason to see this movie. The character Nikita is a standout in movies because none have ever been like her before. Characters have gone through transformations before, but from a street junkie to femme fatale is a pretty hard one, and she pulls it off effortlessly.

I don't even get how she didn't get nominated for an Oscar, because one second she can be sobbing hysterically, throwing a tantrum, and then the next second is a cool-hearted killer with a mean look in her eyes.

I can't picture anyone else in the role. "La Femme Nikita" is a simply awesome movie that is one of the best French films as well as one of the best action movies. Recommended.