Point of No Return

Being a remake of Luc Besson's "Nikita" (1990), this is quite an average hollywood remake of a very interesting french movie. The french original is much better in terms of direction and story, but Bridget Fonda's acting is marvellous, outstanding and considerably better than her french counterpart's in "Nikita". And this is exactly the reason to watch this movie, Fonda's performance is a thing you should definitely not miss.

This movie is also called The Assassin. I have never seen the original, Nikita, from Luc Besson, but I was looking for it, instead I stumbled on this film in the rental store and it turned out to be a remake. I thought, with Bridget Fonda as a gunslinging babe, plus Gabriel Byrne and Harvey Keitel in the supporting cast, and in the director's chair John Badham, of Wargames, Bird on a Wire and The Hard Way fame, what can go wrong? Everything!

The camerawork is plain mediocre and not any action scene seems to have any choreography, the whole movie lacks style and elegance while it should have those above everything else. I think, if it would have been a good movie, every scene would have been either very thrilling and exciting to watch or involving. The scene with the arrest in the beginning and the training scenes could have been so much better with a little imagination. The same for the other "action" scenes. The whole movie is very uninspired and a huge waste of talent. For those who like the chix-with-guns genre, which still seems a bit underused, I recommend The Long Kiss Goodnight with Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson which is far superior and has a better plot to boot. Or if you want to see a really good film with Bridget Fonda go watch A Simple Plan.

I give this film 4 out of 10 because it had so much more potential. Were it a B-movie I had been more forgiving, but it wasn't. It was, however, executed as badly as a B-movie.

I thought this flick was good, and I'm SO glad that the film didn't resort to the typical Hollywood ending that other American remakes do (though it differed just a bit from the original "Nikita").

Admittedly, I'm biased in that I'm getting to be a big Bridget Fonda fan. And I agree with another reviewer that Fonda played a more likable character than the one in the French original.

Plus, the DVD's sound is great, though the picture is grainy.

All in all, a good film that doesn't deserve all the mudslinging it has gotten.

You can't truly appreciate how good La Femme Nikita was until you have seen Point of no Return. Bridget Fonda stars as Maggie, the drug addict who is sentenced to death after killing a cop but is given a second chance if she will train to be a secret agent. The film is pretty much remade scene for scene from Nikita with a few small changes here and there except this time all of the original's artistic integrity is sacrificed for mindless action sequences and unneeded sex scenes. Fonda is good as a female action lad but fails to capture the inner struggle Nikita faced from having to live a double life. Also the burning sexual tension from the original is now reduced to nothing more than petty conflict between Maggie and her boyfriend. Bob from the original film was played with a stern sense of hope, you knew he was there for nothing more than to train these people but you could tell in his actions that he did care. Here Gabriel Byrne does not seem tough and uncaring making any feelings he could have had for Maggie seem rather meaningless. Even the line "I will never kiss you again"seems rather out of context, Not only that but most of the other more important scenes from Nikita mean next to nothing, for instance when Nikita pulled the gun out of the bath tub while crying, symbolizing the toil of having to secretly live as someone else. Harvey Keitel is a good actor but is given a thankless role here as Victor the cleaner, coming nowhere close to Jean Reno's dramatic intensity and dark sense of humour. Probably the most disappointing aspect of the film is that there are no cameos from original cast members or no homage paid to Luc Besson's artistic masterpiece, it is just a remake made to suit the modern masses. The ending of the film is basically the same except made a little more accessible but also losses the sense of tragedy, lessening the overall impact of the film in general. The only reason I could see people enjoying this film is if they have not seen La Femme Nikita or those who found the original hard to follow due to the subtitles. Other than that there was really no need for this film to be made or for people to watch it.

This movie is pretty much a shot-for-shot remake of the French film "La Femme Nikita" by Luc Besson. I'll say right off the bat that I strongly suggest watching that one instead, since they are virtually indistinguishable but this one is just a clone, a (not so cheap) imitation.

As with many foreign films that are remade for American audiences (like "Let the Right One In," "Funny Games," or "Infernal Affairs"), I'm often left feeling hollow after viewing both versions. The original was, well, original, which is why it gained international acclaim at the time, opening doors to Luc Besson for productions like "Leon" and "The Fifth Element." With this Americanized repeat, there's nothing added, no extra twist, no real reason to remake a perfectly good first film, other than the fact that Americans don't like to read subtitles. It's no wonder Luc Besson refused the offer to direct; seems pretty boring for an artist to make the exact same movie again within five years of the first.

Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly watchable film, but I'm not liable to give it any credit beyond that since the whole thing was lifted from a movie made only a few years before this. Bridget Fonda is solid, and makes the transition from despicable junkie to government assassin pretty believable. Gabriel Byrne, of course, does well in his role, but I think this character has a very limited range compared to that of which he is capable. Dermot Mulroney is easy on the eyes but his character is not particularly memorable.

Good action, a little romance, and Bridget Fonda kicking ass. Plus a small role for Harvey Keitel at his peak, fresh off of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Bad Lieutenant." The shootouts are pretty par for the 90's, with squibs exploding everywhere and the usual shots of the protagonist diving through the air in slow motion. At the time, the role-reversal of having a female spy/assassin as the lead was pretty unique, but nowadays, of course, that is not so uncommon at all.

Summary: totally watchable, but totally unnecessary.