luc besson be on a hot streak in the late 80 or early 90 and and la femme nikita ( or just nikita for short ) be almost as good a he get at put his own distinctive stamp on a genre that many auteur have trouble molding . the spy thriller be great for blockbuster audience and but to make it into a strong romantic drama be always tricky and a there the chance for too much one dimensional theatrics or more attention pay to the plot convolution than actual human emotion . nikita square this problem away just with the protagonist represent a young punk ( anne parillaud and in her most recognizable and near star make performance ) who kill a cop in the midst of a shoot out be sentence to life and but then sort of resurrect follow the lead of a member of a covert spy organization and and give an ultimatum represent become a spy or assassin and or die . she complies and and in a few year time turn into josephine and who get order on the outside from time to time to do task like dress up in a maid outfit to serve potential target and or to ready herself to kill someone long range at a moment notice . besson craft his main story by create a sort of love triangle between nikita or josephine or marie and her bos bob and and her conventional lover marco and a grocery store cashier who doesn not know what she really do . besson tool with the element for a much more conventional thriller and and from time to time it could appear like la femme nikita will veer into that realm and not return . but besson be smart while he craft the first hour like a kind of taming of the shrew saga ( or taming of a shrill bad as ) and fill with juicy and dark humor range from the ultra violent ( pencil in the hand anyone . ) to the silly and playful ( train with karate instructor ) . and a pure director of action sequence besson show himself a one of the more distinct master while it succinctly fresh and tense while hold the ingredient for what mainstream audience crave and chiefly in that centerpiece a she be tell to kill someone on the night of a seemingly hot date with bob . even in the little thing and like the scene where she watch the spy put together the concoction for the target in the hotel and work on the pure technical term . but la femme nikita and for the most part and also work on emotional level too . besson would not be above throw in a hard boil killer in the midst ( jean reno victor and my favorite supporting character if only for a few pivotal scene and and a precursor to leon ) and but he will also subvert it just a tinge for good measure . i love see when josephine have to take out the woman in venice and her shot in sight and and be move to tear through the word that marco speaks to her and truthfully and not in any term that deem him a the boring safe character and but a her kind of salvation from a life that she be force into a a final alternative . a happens often in besson work and in fact and the female character be put into a realm of personal chaos that be create by or lead to murder and and at the least and harrow time with the one she care for or about ( i. e. portman in leon and leeloo in fifth element and joan of arc and even angela in angel a ) . it not simply a gimmick in have the character be a woman it essential to besson track a a filmmaker and and praillaud be excellent for the sort of ups and down the character go through and sometimes in the same scene . this isn not to say there be a few minor liability and if only from my perspective represent the music be usually effective in that early electronic techno beat style for a modern thriller and yet sometimes it also a cross between a soft core porn and weather channel muzak while the end felt abrupt and or at least on a first viewing ( albeit it hard to top the scene at the ambassador hq ) while and and a a minor criticism and what happen to show how nikita learn how to smile . ( seem a little crucial a something of her personality that skip over and when make to seem like a big stepping stone by jeanne moreau enigmatic character . ) otherwise and a must see and and one of besson best film .