I had pretty high hopes for this movie, but I was sadly disappointed. Nikita started out as a super tough and fearless (albeit somewhat unstable) character, but I felt that she became less and less of a powerful woman as the movie went on, despite her training and "refinement." I also felt that her strong presence in the movie diminished as it went on--her most impressive actions were probably the shootings in the opening scene of the movie. After she became more ladylike in appearance and behavior through her training, she seemed to become a lot more fearful. Whether it was because she started to care about her life or fell in love, the supposedly new and improved Nikita was not nearly as "cool" as the Nikita we were first introduced to.
I appreciated the fact that Nikita clearly had a lot of strength and skill, but I was upset that there weren't many scenes in the movie that actually showed off her abilities. The latter half of the movie seemed to have an equal amount of romance and action scenes, if not more romance. The "action" wasn't quite action either--she screamed, she delivered tea as a disguised maid, and she broke down into hysterics around the Cleaner. I wasn't even angry at her running away at the end--I was just confused. She couldn't decide whether or not to give up love or fight back for love, so she ran away? Alright, movie.
Overall, Nikita wasn't the heroine that I wanted her to be. She had much potential, but as she was developed more and more into a so-called "femme fatale," she lost the witty, rebellious, "I don't give a shit" spark that defined her in the beginning of the film, and therefore became less of a powerful heroine to me.
I totally agree with your thoughts. I was expecting a lot more fighting and cool action scenes knowing she was supposed to be this deadly killer... but in the end we never got to see any of the skills she supposedly cultivated during her years of training. Personally to me, she went from being a wild animal to a lost child. She was a deadly weapon, but became obsessed with following orders, even when knowing it was wrong. Bob totally screwed her over, and yet she continually respected and even loved him, despite knowing that he was essentially using her as a tool. Towards the end, she cried so much that it almost became annoying. I also felt that the conclusion was a cop out- she basically just disappeared because she couldn't handle it anymore and yet couldn't think of a way to fight back.
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