Girls with guns
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| + | '''Girls with guns''' is a sub-genre of films and animation, especially [[Hong Kong action films]] and [[anime]], with a [[female]] [[protagonist]] in a strong lead [[role]], set in a [[Modern era|modern]] context. The genre involves [[Gun fu|gun-play]], [[stunt]]s and [[martial arts]] action. Some of the best known female fighters to Western audiences are [[Angela Mao|Angela Mao Ying]], [[Cheng Pei-pei]], [[Moon Lee]], [[Michelle Yeoh]], [[Zhang Ziyi]] and [[Cynthia Rothrock]]. | ||
| - | ==Plot== | + | {{GFDL}} |
| - | Nikita Taylor ([[Anne Parillaud]]) is a teen-aged delinquent and [[heroin]] addict who participates in robbing the [[pharmacy]] of the parents of a fellow junkie. The robbery goes awry, degenerating to a gunfight with local police during which her cohort is killed. Suffering severe [[withdrawal symptoms]], she shoots a policeman. Nikita is arrested, tried, convicted of murder, and imprisoned for life, with parole considered after thirty years. | + | |
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| - | In prison, she is drugged to simulate a death sentence; she awakens in a nondescript room. A well-dressed, hard man ([[Tchéky Karyo]]) enters and reveals that, although officially dead and buried after suicide by overdose, she is in custody of the [[Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure|DGSE]], the French intelligence agency. She is given a choice: work as a DGSE [[assassin]] or be killed. After some resistance, she chooses the former and proves a talented killer. One of her trainers, Amande ([[Jeanne Moreau]]), transforms her from grimy gutter trash to [[femme fatale]]; Amande, too, was so rescued and recruited. | + | |
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| - | Her initiation mission, killing a diplomat in a crowded restaurant and escaping back to the Centre, is the film's highlight; she is graduated and begins life as a [[sleeper agent]] in Paris with her boyfriend ([[Jean-Hugues Anglade]]), a man she meets in a [[supermarket]] and who knows nothing of her real profession. | + | |
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| - | Her assassin's career continues well, until an embassy document-theft goes awry, requiring the ruthless participation of 'Victor: The Cleaner' ([[Jean Reno]]) in destroying the mission's evidence and all corpses; The Cleaner is wounded and dies; Nikita abandons the Agency, the city of Paris, and her supermarket cashier boyfriend. | + | |
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| - | == Critical and public reception == | + | |
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| - | Like most of Besson's films, Nikita received relatively poor reviews by critics both in France<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avoir-alire.com/article.php3?id_article=9054|title=Luc Besson, le mal aimé, aVoir-aLire|accessdate=2009-02-06}}</ref> and abroad. However, it has been acclaimed worldwide by the general public. This trend can be seen for example on [[Metacritic]] where the overall rating by the critics is 56% and the one by the users is 77%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/lafemmenikita?q=nikita|title=La Femme Nikita, on Metacritics|accessdate=2009-02-06}}</ref> | + | |
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| - | However, a number of critics, including [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]], positively reviewed the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=6&subsec=La+Femme+Nikita |title=The Balcony Archive: La Femme Nikita |accessdate=2007-12-07 |format=flash video |work=Ebert & Roeper}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reviews: La Femme Nikita |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=1991-04-03 |work=rogerebert.com |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910403/REVIEWS/104030301/1023 |accessdate=2007-12-07}}</ref> Critics and viewers noted Luc Besson's Gallic inversion of Hollywood and Hong Kong action film conventions, emphasizing the killer's humanity. | + | |
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| - | == Remake == | + | |
| - | In 1993, [[Warner Bros.]] [[remake|remade]] ''Nikita'' in [[English language|English]] as ''[[Point of No Return (film)|Point of No Return]]'' (''The Assassin''), directed by [[John Badham]] and starring [[Bridget Fonda]]. ''Nikita'' also inspired the 1991 Hong Kong action film ''[[Black Cat (1991 film)|Black Cat]],'' which closely follows the original film’s storyline. | + | |
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| - | ==TV series== | + | |
| - | A TV series based on the film, titled ''[[La Femme Nikita (TV series)|La Femme Nikita]]'' was created in 1997. It was produced in Canada by [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Fireworks Entertainment]]. The series ran for five seasons on [[USA Network]], and generated a sizeable cult following of its own. It was created by [[Joel Surnow]], who later co-created ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'' with fellow ''La Femme Nikita'' executive consultant [[Robert Cochran (TV producer)|Robert Cochran]]. It starred [[Peta Wilson]] as Nikita and [[Roy Dupuis]]. | + | |
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| - | ==References== | + | |
| - | <references /> | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | *[[Assassinations in fiction]] | + | |
| - | *[[Girls with guns]] | + | |
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Girls with guns is a sub-genre of films and animation, especially Hong Kong action films and anime, with a female protagonist in a strong lead role, set in a modern context. The genre involves gun-play, stunts and martial arts action. Some of the best known female fighters to Western audiences are Angela Mao Ying, Cheng Pei-pei, Moon Lee, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Cynthia Rothrock.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Girls with guns" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
