Nikita

Even after thirty years, La Femme Nikita still has great atmosphere and the same effect on me as it did years ago when I first saw it. I enjoyed every moment of the film again, because even the slower parts had their charm, and I could look forward to Victor's arrival. It's beyond me how Luc Besson could have gotten so significantly worse over the years and started making films that don't even come close to this. (04.05.2020)

In the 80s, major studios in America came up with a barrage of action films that overshadowed the more artistic creations of the 70s and successfully filled movie theaters even in Europe. It was a period when European national cinemas could produce their own films, which, however, didn't reach distribution and merely filled the drawers of production companies. Luc Besson introduced the concept of a European action thriller, which may not have thrilled critics, but it renewed fans' trust in the ability of European creators to deliver gratifying entertainment to theaters. The film has a strong story, fascinating characters, and pervasive tension. Anne Parillaud became a recognized actress, offered several opportunities by Hollywood and overseas, and a remake of lesser quality was even made in America. Overall impression: 80%. (14.06.2006)

Perhaps the greatest acknowledgement for this film in general is to admit that Eric Serra's music was perhaps fitting in some of its scenes at times. Nikita is arguably Besson's creative peak and his most sensitive film. Watch the seamless transitions between the mood of the characters and the mood of the film. When Nikita sits in an upscale restaurant for the first time in three years at her birthday party, all naughty, only to end up with a huge gun she has to use to shoot several people, all of which turns into a inimitable kitchen massacre, the film has the same soundtrack and focal length throughout. Nikita presents us with a strangely disjointed world where agents sweat in hotel blinds with recording devices, spy contacts pass information in front of display windows, and Victor the Cleaner could be sitting in any car ready to cover up an entire botched operation. Behind these acts is a country represented in such cases not by Bond agents in the light of national ideals but by a kidnapped social underclass with no choice in the matter. After all, the film suggests several times that almost all the agents in it have a past similar to Nikita’s. And in all of this is a girl who never had the opportunity to be, only to "become". Hopefully only good things await her on her future journeys. "We’ll miss her." (24.07.2021)

The beginning was pretty rough, but then the movie calmed down a bit. Victor the Cleaner portrayed by Jean Reno, however, caused quite a change of plans. La Femme Nikita is a legendary movie. It seems to me that Luc Besson started his career with this movie and never really managed to exceed it. I mean even Leon is inspired by this film. Anne Parillaud quickly turns from a messy junkie into a beautiful chick. I’d never seen such a brutal transformation in a movie before. The only reason I can’t give this movie the full five-star review is that at times, the movie is pretty wacky. It’s a proper French crime movie, but sometimes it’s laced with a wacky scene intended to make the movie dynamic. Sometimes it’s a bit too much. (18.10.2014)

Typical Besson in his strongest period. He deals with the strong and attractive theme without an excessive emphasis on gloss and shallowness, and vice versa: he concentrates on the undercurrents and the psychology of the characters. The action and the spy gloriola are tactfully set to the side, meaning that the human dimension of the story of the woman who was given a second chance gets more room. The action is minimal, but it is very inventive and contains a considerable portion of cynicism, not unlike Tarantino's later poetics. Anne Parillaud acts with incredible commitment and plays the drastic rebirth of her character with an extraordinary degree of persuasion. Besson's form is also evidenced by the "cleansing" episode, which, thanks to the performance of Jean Reno, is amongst the classics of film. Personally, I'm quite bothered by the synthetic soundtrack and the somewhat wobbly step of the storytelling; however, La Femme Nikita is still an absolute classic, which is a fact that will not be changed even by a traditionally stupid American remake. (26.06.2006)