See "La Femme Nikita" (1990). Don't bother with this craptastic ripoff. Seriously.This is a really, really poorly done remake. It should not have been made at all.Do I sound like a fanboy? Well, yes, I am - the original is an excellent film, in my opinion. This is a poor excuse for a film. The talents of talented actors Harvey Keitel and Gabriel Byrne are utterly wasted. Bridget Fonda is not believable at all as the main character.The weapons used in the film were not researched by anyone in the props department. They grabbed guns they thought looked "cool." A .22 match pistol used in place of a big-bore .50 cal Desert Eagle for a close-in assassination, a .22 match rifle used in place of a suppressed Steyr AUG A1. Seriously, this movie is ridiculous flash over substance.Just don't waste your time on this junk.

After drug addict Maggie kills a policeman she is sentenced to death. She is 'executed' but then wakes up to be told she has a choice either she can work for the state or her execution will take place for real. Supervised by 'Bob' her training then begins; she is taught how to behave properly and how to kill. She is not an easy student but eventually passes her final test. Finally she is allowed to leave the training facility and is told to move to Venice Beach and wait further instructions. Time passes and she gets in a relationship with a local man before finally being given her first job. Shortly afterwards 'Uncle Bob' turns up and gives his 'niece' two tickets to New Orleans for Mardi Gras… of course it turns out to be another job. By now Maggie has become more human, the job bothers her on a moral level and she doesn't want her boyfriend caught up in it; Bob tells her that there is no way out of her job. Inevitably she gets given another task… this time things don't go according to plan.When I first watched this in the cinema I really enjoyed this… at the time I hadn't seen 'Nikita'. Having seen both it is clear that this is more than 'based on' it is a very close remake; a few details are changed but not many. While I think the original is the superior film this is still pretty solid and I'll try to review it on its own merits. The story is solid and the main characters are believable despite the unlikely situation. Bridget Fonda does an impressive job as Maggie making her sympathetic despite the way she starts out. She is ably supported by Gabriel Byrne as 'Bob'; Anne Bancroft, as Amanda her etiquette coach; Dermot Mulroney as boyfriend JP and Miguel Ferrer as Bob's boss, who is not a fan of Maggie. There is also an impressively sinister turn from Harvey Keitel as Victor the Cleaner. The action is impressive with shootings, some martial arts and other fights. While there are a few disturbing moments, there is nothing too bad. Overall this is a solid action thriller and while I'd recommend watching 'Nikita' this is worth watching if you don't like subtitles, like any of the main actors involved or just want to compare the films.

If someone other than Bridget Fonda had the lead, I may not have liked it as much. To me, she's an underrated actress, and at this stage of her career, she was a beauty, with a mesmerizing face you can't take your eyes from. Also, the kind of sexy/skinny bod that I'm not alone in loving in a woman.The story was a little muddled, and Dermot Mulrooney's character was, to me, nothing but annoying. That might just be me, because I'm always annoyed by him.But all in all, a solid 7 thriller/suspense flic, IMO. For comparison, I'd like to see the original French version, from which this was adapted.

Bridget Fonda is a murderous, drug-addicted wreck who is saved from execution by Gabriel Byrne, an agent for one of those secret government organizations that assassinate people who are disliked. She's recruited as an assassin for the rest of her life or until she outlives her usefulness. She grows dissatisfied with her job.First of all, make up has done its best to turn Fonda into a violently psychopathic and beat-up dreg. And she STILL doesn't look bad. How could she, with that architecturally perfect bone structure? And when they're done training her -- teaching her to speak properly, how to kill with your flying feet, which wine to order with which meal, turning her into a blond -- she looks devastating. And the director has the good taste to have her running around in underpants half the time.Byrne with his crepuscular Irish voice and dark features is fine as her manager but he doesn't have to do very much. Once in a while he does his best to smile and one can hear the creaking of joints long unused. Alas, Fonda's love, Dermot Mulroney, is a thorough-going lightweight as an actor. And the script doesn't help him a bit. As his girl friend with a secret, Fonda is in their bathroom preparing to assassinate another stranger through the window, while, out in the bedroom, he's proposing they get engaged. Great tension in this scene. If we didn't know it already, the musical score pounds it into us.Here is poor Fonda assembling a complicated ugly rifle in the bathroom, her eyes filled with tears, while on the other side of the door, in a state of abject innocence, Mulroney begs for her reply. Get these lines. "Don't you think I deserve an answer?" And, "We need to talk about this." Now, I hate to point out the obvious, but no normal man would ever say anything resembling this. Women say things like that, but men do not say things like that.By the end -- by the time Harvey Keitel shows up to re-do his role as "the cleaner" from "Pulp Fiction" -- the director sensibly throws away all this role-conflict business and turns the movie into the action flick that it has yearned to be from the beginning.Once you accept the film for what it is, once you can bring yourself to ablate the presence of Dermot Mulroney and enjoy the sight of Keitel being scraped to death under the spinning tires of a racing car -- well, then, you've got it made.