Exclusive: iPad world premier of spy thriller Nikita

Maggie Q gets her gun on

All good attackers know the most important thing in a fight is the element of surprise, which is exactly what This Is Entertainment got when we were invited to a top secret preview screening of Nikita, a TV remake of the 1990 French film.


The twist was that this was to be the first TV show to be previewed via Apple's shiny iPad. Danny Wallace, writer of Yes Man, hosted the event, dropping the bombshell that unfortunately we weren't allowed to keep the interactive TV trays, but soon everyone was lounging on a comfortable sofa watching episode one.



The show itself boasts an impressive cast including Maggie Q as the titular femme fatale as well as Shane West, formerly Tom Sawyer in the ill-fated League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Xander Berkeley, from not only Kick-Ass and Terminator 2, but also hit action series 24 (which Nikita has plenty in common with).


Berkeley also took part in a live webchat afterwards to explain how the series works: "It's a great structure: you take this deadly female assassin and put her up against this nefarious organisation who trained her to take it down."


Wallace went on to ask him why he thought there were such a large number of spy-turn-rogue-agent flicks around, with the likes of Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer dominating the screens for the past few years: "I'd like to think in this post-9/11 era there is a lot of money being put into counter-terrorism and the public don't really know where that money is going so it all generates the same kind of intrigue that I felt during the cold war era."



So it's your classic case of asset turns against its maker with a few twists turned in for good measure and a little bit of photogenic casting. Now that these sorts of shows, particularly Alias, seem to be on the wane, Nikita deserves to do well. Definitely worth watching.


The show is already available via iTunes and is set to be aired on Living TV in October. Special thanks to Fever PR.


James Michael Parry

Nikita, Warner Brothers, thriller, action, James Michael Parry, iPad, Apple, Maggie Q

Film: Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

From the moment the pixellated 8-bit 'Universal' logo ushers in the beginning of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, you know this film will never win an Oscar – and it shouldn't.

Not because it isn't a work of cinematic brilliance (it is), but because Edgar Wright's first feature since wrapping Police-based actioner Hot Fuzz is just too geeky for the masses.

The fact that early reports already show the film not setting box offices ablaze in the USA is no surprise since its up against most of the 80s action heroes in the form of The Expendables and a well-established children's franchise in Toy Story 3.

The story is hum-drum enough: Scott Pilgrim, played by the Superbad Michael Cera, with High School over and no job tying him down has only the haunting memory of his ex-girlfriend breaking his heart to keep him down. He just so happens to be bassist in (almost...) the biggest band in Toronto : Sex Bomb-omb.

Enter 17 year-old schoolgirl Knives (yes, really) who breaks Scott out of his rut when they start going out, that is until pink-haired Ramona Flowers appears to throw a spanner in the works.

As it turns out Ramona has SEVEN evil exs, not boyfriends as she's keen to note, who Scott must defeat to win her.

Admittedly on paper it makes as much sense as the first few hundred pages of Lord of the Rings, but what makes the film soar above the average comic-book adaptations is style.

Scott's world isn't quite the Toronto we (probably don't) know, apart from geographically this is a world where a ringing phone causes the air to be brazened with the word “BRRIIIIIIING”, computer games teach you complex martial arts and defeated enemies burst into a shower of coins.

Music is a weapon and Scott's band's struggle to get a record deal from the illusive G-Man drives the story along, in between watching Cera being pummelled by various imposing opponents.

The seven-strong evil ex roster boasts some impressive names, such as Brandon Routh, better known as Bryan Singer's Superman and Chris Evans, better known as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and soon Marvel's #1: Captain America.

Like any good comic-book villain each ex has their own evil powers, such as Routh's telekenisis and mind-reading granted to him by being a 'hardcore' vegan, and fatal weaknesses which prove their undoing, of which a particular highlight is the downfall of evil ex #4 Roxie Richter (Mae Whitman) from some unusual contact.

Gaming plays as large a role in the film as music but the most surreal aspect of the action is influenced by Japanese Manga, with screen blurs, cinematic cut scenes and slow motion fighting moves in abundance.

Cera fails to shake his typecasting as the reformed loser Scott, but nonetheless makes you genuinely care about him, while being amused at his oh-so-typical teenaged awkwardness...at 22.

It's Kieran Culkin as Scott's gay housemate Wallace who is gifted with the best lines, but like previous Wright work Spaced the film would only ever work as an ensemble piece. Luckily the cast compliment each other and those who initially seem one dimensional, such as frowning Sex Bomb-Omb drummer Kim Pine (Alison Pill) often hint at greater depth.

The film itself lives up to what it sets out to be, a story which could well mostly be going on in Scott's head, and some very polished visual effects bring the audience into the virtual world convincingly, at times making you long for 3D.

For those who enjoyed recent comic-book curve ball Kick Ass this is a sensational follow-up watch, and for those even slightly familiar with any of the plethora of references featured it rewards a little suspension of disbelief hundreds of times over to provide a fantastic fun summer film.

Rating 5/5

James Michael Parry

Pictures: Screen Rant, Filmofilia, The Faster Times

Film: AVATAR - 3D's shining light?

Director James Cameron gives lead guy Sam Rockwell a few pointers...literally

Seeing things in 3D is quite ordinary. Think about it, you see in 3D (and super-duper HD come to think of it) all the time. In cinema though there's always been a certain fascination with the third dimension, to give films depth you can't get on a run-of-the-mill screen.

Since I've already delved into the history and technicalities before (take a look at my previous post if ye dare), I'll move on to the case in point: James Cameron's much anticipated epic, Avatar.

After fourteen years waiting for technology to catch up with his imagination, or so he would have us believe, Cameron invites you to the far flung world of Pandora to learn about the dangers of damaging the environment – in a nutshell, it may fight back.

The film itself, ignoring any 3D aspect whatsoever, was good. The story and characters were on the cliché side, but the style of the picture saves it, plus a top-form performance from not-so-newcomer Sam Worthington as Jake Sully.

Comparisons to the story of kids' 80s TV show The Smurfs aren't totally unreasonable, in fact the South Park episode on the subject is well worth a watch, but it all comes down to a simple message about not destroying our beloved planet.

Never fear though, remember this is the James Cameron who brought us Aliens, so there's action and excitement a-plenty – there's even a giant tree!

But what about the gimmick/innovation that is 3D? As the screen instructs you to 'Put on your 3D glasses now' there's a well of anticipation and as the spectacle begins there's a satisfying feeling of 'oooo ahhh'. Soon though the initial shock of seeing things with a little more depth wears off and you let yourself get engrossed in the story, and apart from the occasional flurry of leaves towards your face or burning shrapnel flying perilously close towards you, all the hype of 3D sinks into the background, adding to the film surprisingly subtly.

So Cameron delivers his master-stroke with ease, and an awful lot of patience, but it's film-goers who benefit, since Avatar hammers home the fact that 3D films are no longer restricted to cheesy animated shorts or tedious specials about underwater life at the IMAX. Whether 3D will prove to be more than a fad this time around remains to be seen, particularly with home 3D technology just around the corner, but for now it's here to stay, complete with its fairly ridiculous prices – unfortunately.

And happy new year everyone! Thank you for reading This Is Entertainment this past year and I hope I will continue to amuse and inform you in the coming months as well.