Nikita: Review: Nikita Season 1

A former assassin is determined to bring down the black ops Division who murdered her lover…

As the special features on this five disc set explain, this is a very different take on the Nikita story, which began life as a Luc Besson film over 20 years ago. This isn’t the tale of Nikita’s recruitment, and eventual disillusionment with Division – this picks up the story where the film finishes, with Nikita incredibly angry and set on revenge.

Maggie Q is a believable Nikita – more so, for my money, than Bridget Fonda was in the American version The Assassin, although different in many ways from Peta Wilson’s interpretation in the previous long-running series. Ironically the scenes that work least well are those that flash back to her time within Division: there’s often not enough physical difference between Nikita-now and Nikita-then.

It’s a show that treads water a bit too much in its early episodes, but from about episode 11 onwards, it really powers forward to the end of the season, with various characters changing allegiances, and leaving the show at the start of the second year with a very different set up. If you enjoyed Alias, chances are you’ll get into this.

Extras include deleted scenes, and various short documentaries on how the show comes together. The former are useful; the latter are enjoyable, but don’t have anywhere near enough detail for real fans.

Verdict: A show that rewards careful viewing, stick with the early episodes to get to some terrific material in the back half of the year.  7/10

Paul Simpson

Warner Home Video, out now on Blu-ray and DVD