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The Movie: Director Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" became an international hit several years ago. The film featured a woman from the streets (Anne Parillaud) recruited to be a government assassin. There was also an American remake, nowhere near as good, starring Bridget Fonda ("Point of No Return"). Despite the fact that the American remake was not well-received, the original still managed to suggest that there could be additional adventures in the works for the character. "La Femme Nikita", the TV show, stars Petra Wilson as Nikita, a woman wrongly convicted for murder who is given a second chance, working for the government as a spy/assassin, followed closely by her "handler" Michael (Roy Dupuis). The show follows Nikita each week as she goes on another mission to try and take down terrorists and other criminals. The show, which ran for several seasons from 1997-2001, was produced by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, both of whom became instrumental in creating the popular Fox series "24". It's rather easy to see why the show gained such a devoted following over the years it ran. Wilson, who is remarkably attractive (has sort of a Gwyneth Paltrow/Jewel thing going on), is also a strong actress that capably portrays the complex emotions involved with some of the darker tasks that she must carry out. It's a dynamic performance that smoothly shows both the vicious side and the human feelings/emotions within the character. Supporting performances are also superb; characters are well-developed and believably shady/complex. Despite what appears to be a limited budget (the show does have a rather "basic cable" appearance, especially in the opening credits), it appears the producers have worked with what they have intelligently, leading to action scenes that are suspenseful, well-staged and occasionally, rather clever. The only thing that I have to say I didn't entirely care for was Mark Snow's score. While the composer, famed for his work on the "X-Files", does a fine job here, it's simply that the show doesn't seem to need to be as "score-heavy" as it is. Some of the scenes could have gained tension had they simply stayed quiet. The whole show - I'm not sure if it's this way in later seasons, as this DVD set is all I've watched of it - seems a little music-heavy. Overall, though, I thought this first season showed a compelling and highly watchable series. I'm surprised that Peta Wilson hasn't become a bigger star as a result. The DVD set includes all of the first season episodes (listed below), across 6 dual-layer discs. Episodes: SEASON 1 Nikita Friend Simone Charity Mother Love Treason Escape Gray Choice Rescue Innocent Gambit Recruit Obsessed Missing Noise Voices War Verdict Brainwash Mercy The DVD VIDEO: "La Femme Nikita" is presented by Warner Brothers in the show's original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. All of the 22 episodes were presented across 6 dual-layer discs, which I think nicely spaced them out. TV shows on DVD sometimes seem compressed onto only a few discs to try and keep costs down, resulting in inconsistent image quality. Here, episodes consistently remained sharp and well-defined, with very nice definition, clarity and shadow detail. Although some minor shimmering was occasionally visible, the picture did not suffer from any edge enhancement or pixelation. Colors could occasionally appear a tad soft, although this seemed to be the intentional look. However, colors most appeared crisp, accurate and well-rendered. English/French/Spanish subtitles are offered. SOUND: The Dolby Surround soundtrack remained crisp and clear throughout all episodes. Sound effects and music offered a very respectable punch for a 2.0 TV soundtrack, while dialogue sounded pretty natural. Nicely done, although the material suggests a 5.1 soundtrack may have added to the experience. EXTRAS: Joel Surnow, John Cassar and Robert Cochran offer an audo commentary for the first episode of the season, while Surnow offers a commentary for the last episode. For the first episode, the group starts off discussing the conception of the show and compliment those involved. After that's out of the way, they go into greater detail about issues like casting, budget, locations (Canada) and discuss the inspirations for the look of the show and how action scenes were constructed. Surnow's commentary for the finale provides a wrap-up of the season and overview of the first series. A 12-minute "making of" documentary, which compresses a lot of insight about casting and character into a short period, is offered, as are 9 deleted scenes w/commentary. Final Thoughts: "La Femme Nikita" is an excellent continuation of Luc Besson's film, lead primarily by an intoxicating and delightful performance from Peta Wilson, whose athleticism, personality and exotic looks are fascinating to watch. The DVD set offers very good features, audio and video quality. Recommended. |