A hot babe trained to kill trying to take down her former employee ? After Prison Break and Dollhouse the story of Nikita didn't sound as exciting as when the film was released back in 1990. However with a great network like The CW behind it I thought it could at least be entertaining. It was so I'm glad I gave it a chance but despite its many qualities some elements really disappointed me.
The cast is decent but I have a problem with Maggie Q as Nikita. She looked just like the skinny fashion model next door. In fact it's the one reason I had doubts about the show. Nowadays is it so hard to find an actress who is both attractive and strong ? Give me a Linda Hamilton or Sigourney Weaver ! However in some scenes her exotic beauty really shined and it was mesmerized by immersive visuals. I also have to admit that her performance was also quite convincing at times. But the few seconds she spent in a tight red bikini or black lingerie were just useless and made her even more fragile to my eyes. Even the action sequences she was involved in didn't help to make her character grow on me. Otherwise learning more about her past and following her spy adventure could hide these seams but definitely not make us forget about Anne Parillaud !
As for the other characters we have the usual profiles from the computer genius to the evil leader. But don't get me wrong they're not stereotyped, at least not too much. Xander Berkeley is excellent as Percy and should remind you of the General of The Company in Prison Break. The geek was also nothing like Dollhouse's one, not annoying and with something wild about him. An other character I enjoyed was Alex, portrayed by Lyndsy Fonseca. I was instantly hooked to her and thought it was a bright idea to develop her story in parallel of Nikita's.
The plot itself hasn't aged well in my opinion. I've read the first volumes of Angel Heart by Tsukasa Hojo and Nikita is not as timeless and emotional. I don't really care about her vendetta and what she said about the missions exposed the obvious episodic format of the show. She'll take The Division down mission by mission ? Well we can expect a new mission every week and after Prison Break's heavy format I really could't digest it. Moreover what she learned about Alex at the end dramatically ruined the suspense. Do they seriously consider us that brainless ? Solving the puzzles and playing the who's who game could have be so exciting and intriguing ! I don't want to be told who the good and bad guys are. I desire to find it all by myself !
Beside these major flaws I have to admit that I liked the pilot. Indeed the production quality was great and even stellar at times. From the snowflakes dancing around Nikita to the shiny lighting it was almost like watching the female adaptation of the Hit-man video game series, specially its Contracts installment. The tension and other ingredients of a good spy franchise were also present, from the fights to the murder attempt in a hotel. Some sets were also very well polished and designed, specially the futuristic headquarters.
