A Disappointing Continuation

The acting in this movie is really good.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Clearly the best Besson's movie.Jean Reno and Natalie Portman make it seems so real and Gary Oldman is amazing.

Before I saw this movie I had heard about him. However, I tried not to have too many expectations. I did well, I was surprised by the film.The plot is simple: Leon is a professional killer with European origins. It's good at what he does. However, his life changes when he saves the life of a girl, Mathilda, whose parents are his neighbors and are slaughtered by a drug dealer whom they had tried to deceive. From then on, they become a kind of distorted family: he protects and welcomes her, and she tries to be like him, determined to avenge the death of her four-year-old brother, the only person she loved.I loved the story told by this movie. Its full of feelings and humanity, in a universe that seems anything but human: the underworld of crime. The young Mathilda is a character full of contrasts: she appears to be very young but says she is grown up and she behaves like an adult: cursing, smoking, drinking - even though she is clearly not used to drinking - and even feeling attracted to her protector, who is a lonely man who wants to remain alone and does not feel for her any bond other than friendship and piety. A suffering man, clearly marked by life, who keeps a single strong connection with a plant, whom he cares lovingly. The characters are excellently played by Jean Reno and Natalie Portman, far from the fame that would later enshrine her in films, such as "Black Swan" or "V for Vendetta". I confess that I found her performance incredible. Gary Oldman brought to life the main villain, the sadistic Stansfield, a man who has two faces and a secret life, but who does not know how to hide a deeply violent and cruel personality.This was Luc Besson's first film I saw, and I confess I was very impressed. The director seems to be thorough and made this film with great care and attention. Filming locations have been carefully selected and wisely used, cinematography is stylish and uses some original and creative camera angles. In the same way, light and color are used in a very appropriate way, and the film cannot be said to be dark or gloomy. The sets and costumes are good and there is some symbolism in the way they present themselves (for example, the empty house of Leon that, suddenly, Mathilda seems to fill with life). The soundtrack, something stylized, goes well with the theme of the movie and what we are watching on screen.In all respects, it's a highly commendable movie to watch several times.

Safe to say this film has spawned many iterations of omnipotent invincible hitmen, it isn't hard to see why. Opening to a lukewarm reception, Léon has rapidly garnered cult status and is a firm favourite amongst film aficionados. A young girl's family is brutally gunned down by a crooked detective, she teams up with a hitman named Léon in order to avenge their deaths. Suffice to say this is an action drama that needs to be viewed by everyone...and I mean "EVERYONEEEE!". It would be easy to class this as an exaggerative over-the-top action thrill ride, but it's so much more than that. Thanks to Besson's Parisian directing style, he focussed his attention to the quirky original relationship between Léon and Mathilda. A girl who has experienced the dark side of life, growing up with a father who deals drugs and regularly hooking up with women. To then be embraced by a determined yet warming hitman, her idyllic fantasy of a caring father figure becomes reality. The bond that rapidly forms between these two characters is fascinating to watch. Her idolisation for him and his protectiveness for her. It's a union that shouldn't work, but does. They both teach each other aspects of life they aren't necessarily familiar with, which furthers the intricate character development. Acting was terrific from everyone. Reno's commanding titular performance encapsulated the screen. Portman's debut is quite possibly the best child performance I've seen. And then there's Oldman as the crazed antagonist, who steals every scene. Whilst this is absolutely entertaining, there are obvious issues. The plot is too thin to carry the full runtime, it takes far too much time developing the character relationship where the actual plot feels neglected, leaving the antagonist on the sideline until the third act. Also the music choice occasionally didn't fit the bustling urban environment and took me out of the film. Aside from those points, it's considerably better than most crime dramas and has aged impeccably well. Everyone needs a Léon in their life.

When her family are slaughtered by a corrupt DEA officer and his men, a 12 year old girl takes refuge in a neighbour's apartment. A neighbour who it turns out is a professional hitman. She soon convinces him to train her to be his protégée.This was French director Luc Besson's first American movie. It is a follow up of sorts to his earlier chic action-thriller Nikita (1990), with Jean Reno essentially reprising his role of a cleaner (professional assassin), although in this one he is playing a different actually character. Like all Besson's movies there is considerable style brought to the table with the action sequences once again particularly well-delivered. But perhaps the true revelation of the movie is Natalie Portman who puts in an extremely strong performance for such a young actress, full of charisma, humour and emotional depth. She plays off well against Reno, who is also impressive. Gary Oldman, on the other hand, is pretty grating and annoying mostly as the main villain, a character who is cartoonish and somewhat ridiculous overall.While I do find this film good quality for the most part, with great action sequences and some interesting characterisations, I have to express serious reservations about the director's cut, where Portman's young character is constantly trying to get Reno to sleep with her. Its majorly uncomfortable stuff and really entirely unnecessary. And while Léon does spurn her advances, it's never really very clear that he rejects her for entirely the right reasons. Seemingly in the original script, the characters do actually end up sleeping together, which we can only be grateful never actually made the final cut but it does make you wonder what Besson was thinking with all this questionable stuff. My advice would be to avoid the director's cut and watch this one in the trimmed version, which removes all this contentious material.