Nikita: YAY!
Lately, I have been talking quite a bit about Nikita (2010), spamming koalathebear's journal with rants. I have suddenly got an urge to start watching it again, and so I did. I am marthoning the available episodes with the speed of light. I have got my Nikita love back! This is probably my favourite franchise (I have seen and loved both films, "Nikita" and "Point of no return" and 1997 "La Femme Nikita" series), so I am so so glad that this installment is as good as the other ones.
First things first: I have seen many reviewers hailing this new Nikita TV show as paragon of feminism and racial equality. I don't think the show lives up it's reputation, not quite 100%. Nikita is indeed cast as a woman of colour, but she has very Western features. And add here my personal bee in the bonnet: Maggie Q is incredibly thin. Even more, the role of the single "stupid, bitchy and violent" character is given to an African American actress. And even more again, in the 9 episodes I have watched, we already have seen plenty of stereotypical Chinese folks (they all belong to triads) and of course, evil Russians (they all want to kill USA senators!). Yes, this is a show about women and it has several strong female roles. But this is what the premise of Nikita always has been and the credit here should to the originator, Luc Besson, not to the creators of 2010 version.
This all said, I am not complaining, I just want to set the records straight. I am LOVING the show and I am so glad that my favourite franchise is back!
The story: Takes off where the films "Nikita" and "Point of no return" have left: Nikita has left Division. So, in relation to the 1997 "La Femme Nikita" (which ended with Michael leaving Division and Nikita staying as the organisation's leader) this is an alterna-reality. However, the 2010 show borrowed few characters and several stories and situations from the 1997 show. The physical layout of Division is also almost identical to the way it was in 1997 show.
The characters:
Nikita: As koalathebear predicted, after 9 episodes I have got de-sensitized to Nikita's scrawniness. Maggie Q is a good actress and she posesses that rageful streak that makes her believable as an assassin. Nikita is a woman who can kill anyone because she has no limits, she doesn't even know what the word limit means. She is very efficient and enjoys mentoring; in this regard she reminds me of the way Madeline was protrayed in 1997 show.
Alex: is my favourite female character in this show. She is more as the old Nikita used to be, so may be this is why I like her the most. Alex's character grows and changes, where Nikita's character is more static. I think the show done a very clever thing introducing the character of Alex: she is the old Nikita for any fans of the old Nikita.I am shipping her with Tom (please tell me he if he is going to die anytime soon, I need spoilers)
Michael: I am so sorry, Roy Dupuis, Shane West might end up to be my favourite Michael of all times. I don't even know where to begin to describe how delicious he is.
The evil people: Amanda is gorgeously creepifying or creepifyingly gorgeous, take your pick. Percy is the robotic face of the evil. My favourite evil dude so far is the Russian guy, Ari Tasarov. . I am going to love to hate him:
I had to giggle, though. Do you know what the name of the Russian evil organization is? Gogol! Gogol is the name of the famous Russian 19th century novelist! Who was big on humanism and social satire! Imagine a British black ops organisation being called Dickens or Austen? For some reason, this amuses me immensely. Here is a portrait of Gogol:
PS: Koalathebear wanted to know how well the actors in the show speak Russian. I did some pondering and soul searching, and actually there a definite improvement since "Alias".
First things first: I have seen many reviewers hailing this new Nikita TV show as paragon of feminism and racial equality. I don't think the show lives up it's reputation, not quite 100%. Nikita is indeed cast as a woman of colour, but she has very Western features. And add here my personal bee in the bonnet: Maggie Q is incredibly thin. Even more, the role of the single "stupid, bitchy and violent" character is given to an African American actress. And even more again, in the 9 episodes I have watched, we already have seen plenty of stereotypical Chinese folks (they all belong to triads) and of course, evil Russians (they all want to kill USA senators!). Yes, this is a show about women and it has several strong female roles. But this is what the premise of Nikita always has been and the credit here should to the originator, Luc Besson, not to the creators of 2010 version.
This all said, I am not complaining, I just want to set the records straight. I am LOVING the show and I am so glad that my favourite franchise is back!
The story: Takes off where the films "Nikita" and "Point of no return" have left: Nikita has left Division. So, in relation to the 1997 "La Femme Nikita" (which ended with Michael leaving Division and Nikita staying as the organisation's leader) this is an alterna-reality. However, the 2010 show borrowed few characters and several stories and situations from the 1997 show. The physical layout of Division is also almost identical to the way it was in 1997 show.
The characters:
Nikita: As koalathebear predicted, after 9 episodes I have got de-sensitized to Nikita's scrawniness. Maggie Q is a good actress and she posesses that rageful streak that makes her believable as an assassin. Nikita is a woman who can kill anyone because she has no limits, she doesn't even know what the word limit means. She is very efficient and enjoys mentoring; in this regard she reminds me of the way Madeline was protrayed in 1997 show.
Alex: is my favourite female character in this show. She is more as the old Nikita used to be, so may be this is why I like her the most. Alex's character grows and changes, where Nikita's character is more static. I think the show done a very clever thing introducing the character of Alex: she is the old Nikita for any fans of the old Nikita.I am shipping her with Tom (please tell me he if he is going to die anytime soon, I need spoilers)
Michael: I am so sorry, Roy Dupuis, Shane West might end up to be my favourite Michael of all times. I don't even know where to begin to describe how delicious he is.
The evil people: Amanda is gorgeously creepifying or creepifyingly gorgeous, take your pick. Percy is the robotic face of the evil. My favourite evil dude so far is the Russian guy, Ari Tasarov. . I am going to love to hate him:
I had to giggle, though. Do you know what the name of the Russian evil organization is? Gogol! Gogol is the name of the famous Russian 19th century novelist! Who was big on humanism and social satire! Imagine a British black ops organisation being called Dickens or Austen? For some reason, this amuses me immensely. Here is a portrait of Gogol:
PS: Koalathebear wanted to know how well the actors in the show speak Russian. I did some pondering and soul searching, and actually there a definite improvement since "Alias".