Do you ever wonder what happens to specific characters after a movie or show has ended? Generally it’s something I don’t do often, but this movie made the opposite thing happen. The main chracter here, Nikita (Anne Parillaud), caused me to think: “So that’s what happened to Pippi Longstocking after she grew up!”
I’ll admit that’s a pretty strange association, but the way the main character is portrayed here (crazy and unpredictable) simply reminded me of the girl with the red hair. At the start of the movie Nikita (Anne Parillaud) is a drug addict, who breaks into a pharmacy with a couple of men. She is in need of her next hit of drugs, but the pharmacist hears the noise they make and the situation quickly escalates. The police shows up and it doesn’t take long before the situation turns into a shootout. Nikita acts in a way no one suspects. Others underestimate her, making her extremely dangerous. A secret part of the government sees her potential though. Although she doesn’t want it, her death is faked and during a couple of years she is locked up and being trained to become a professional assassin. Her mentor is Bob (Tchéky Karyo), who tries to tame the beast inside of her so she can be set free. When that’s the case she’ll be able to get an assignment at any moment.
Director Luc Besson is known for his action movies and although there are some moments where he can show off (especially the moments during which Nikita has to murder), he spends time as well on focussing on her experiences. The role means actress Anne Parillaud has to show lots of emotion, both being unpreditable, totally in control and having a sense of wonder about the world. She succeeds to make it all work, making Nikita a character with depth. Unfortunately that’s not the case for the story. I kept waiting for something bigger which never happened. That doesn’t mean that this is a bad film, but not one that has the properties to stand out from the rest of the movies in the genre. A movie I was waiting to see (there was a reason I picked it for my Blindspot), but not one I’ll be watching again.
I can see how it could be anticlimactic, Nikita didn’t go for a big action scene to finish.
I’m a fan of Eric Serra, and his soundtrack added to the films atmosphere. I’m surprised Anne Parillaud didn’t become a bigger name. She is like a wild animal in Nikita, and her performance is what I remember most.
I loved this film as a teenager, but re-watched it a few years ago and it had aged very badly. Still, great blueprint for Besson’s future movies, and it gave us the assassin from Leon – so can’t complain!