This French film has a very interesting story line, so I was excited to give it a watch. We follow Nikita, a sociopathic ex-drug addict and gang member, as she is picked up by the government and trained as an assassin. I'm yet to watch the TV series based on this film, so I can't tell you how similar it is in terms of characters and plot, but I can only assume it's similar.
I shall start with the good points. Nikita is probably one of the most visually beautiful films I've ever seen. Every shot it truly gorgeous - just what I expect from a French film. With some really punchy action and gore scenes, expect to have your eyes metaphorically massaged.
However, I can't ignore the bad. And the bad was the plot and the characters. Two major parts to the success of a great film.
The biggest problem for me was the ending. This is not just me being an ambiguous ending hater. I love a good ambiguous ending! There was just all this fantastic action and complex set up of relationships, that the ending made the whole thing seem abundant. For one, the way that Nikita's fiance just declared he knew about her work, was a disappointment. The close calls of him finding out, was crying for a major emotional confession from Nikita or a shocking reveal. But no, it was just him casually bring up the missions. This leads on to my next point quite nicely.
I found the characters hard to understand or relate to. Just some of the actions from the characters weren't believable enough. I know this isn't the most realistic plot, but if you choose such a dramatised story, then you need solid characters to make it not seem like utter nonsense. As an audience, we need to believe in the characters in order to engage with a film.
Saying this, Nikita, is still a very interesting an complex character in terms of her personal development. It was fascinating to see her emotional revolt against the gruesome tasks during the cleaner scene. This is a young female who was emotional shredded before her conviction and training, so to see her establish a life of her own afterward and then the aftermath breakdown was captivating. It's a shame the other characters were less developed and bland.
Would have loved to have seen more of Jean Reno.
5/10
