Better Than The Original
OK, first of all, I'm American. Second of all, most of my favorite films are international. Third, I love subtitles so much, that I even turn them on when watching English language films (no, I'm not hard of hearing). Fourth, I've seen the original La Femme Nikita, the American remake Point Of No Return, the Chinese remake called Black Cat, and the TV series which originally aired on the USA network in the states.
Keeping the above in mind, I have to say that I enjoyed Point Of No Return more than I did La Femme Nikita, mainly due to the casting differences and believability of the narrative.
For one, I preferred Bridget Fonda's vulnerability and existentialist angst to Anne Parillaud's cynicism and primal rage. Say what you will about the movie overall, but for me, Fonda was the main key to my enjoying and preferring it to the original. Parillaud is too cold and distant for my sensibilities, whereas Fonda sets the stage for the characterization that would imbue the TV series with some humanity. In the original, I simply didn't care whether any of the people in it lived or died. I was wholly indifferent. In the remake, I got a better sense that at least some of the characters might be human beings and not robots.
I also felt that for a movie about ruthless spies and assassins, Americans are more believable in those roles than are the French. The French, while having a history of extreme brutality that really shown bright during the Algerian War, just do not scare me in the same way that my fellow American countrymen do. The Germans kicked their butts, the Vietnamese kicked their butts, the Algerians did a whole lot of damage, etc., and so my ability to see a French film of this type is somewhat compromised. Don't get me wrong, the French can be ruthless Fascists, as we all know, but for a modern film, I almost feel that the plot works better when set someplace else. You have to believe in a certain kind of lawful lawlessness in order to lose yourself in this kind of film, and the French setting just never did it for me in that regard. Change the setting to America, and I fully believe what is happening.
Also, while it's trendy to love Jean Reno, especially because of all the similar roles he's played, I still think that Harvey Keitel is a much more menacing cleaner. I really believe that Harvey will kill anyone and everyone in the room, including children and babies, in order to make sure that there is no evidence. Jean is a much less menacing figure. There's too much humanity in Jean's eyes, whereas Harvey is a crazy American who doesn't believe in anything but money and following orders.
In addition, I had a greater appreciation for Gabriel Byrne's masculine energy, which felt more substantive than Tcheky Karyo's somewhat tired performance, looking throughout the film as if he was a refugee from the movie Insomnia. I really believed that Byrne and Fonda might possibly "get it on," but I also believed there was a genuine platonic affection between the two as well, despite the ruthless nature of the business.
So, despite the fact that I normally prefer "foreign" films, and believe that most renakes are crap, I do believe there are times, rare though they may be, when American or other remakes can actually improve upon the original. "The Happiness of the Katakuris" vs "The Quiet Family" or "The Ring" vs. "Ringu" are just two small examples of where I felt a remake outdid, improved upon, or added something new to the original. I feel that Point Of No Return stands on it's own and compares quite favorably to La Femme Nikita.