Review of Léon: The Professional (1994) by Rob A — 03 Apr 2017

While many action movies tend to suffer from being style over substance, this movie provides just enough depth to make us care for the two main characters in this movie. Also, the plot has a few other changes added to it which makes it seem more interesting and original than many other action films of the genre.

After a young girl's family is murdered, she meets a hit man who takes her in and the two bond over their time together as they develop an odd friendship with each other.

One thing good about it is that it doesn't consist entirely of non-stop repetitive action scenes. Large portions of the film are focused on establishing the chemistry and bonding of the 2 leads: Leon (Jean Reno) and Mathilda (Natalie Portman). At the beginning of the movie, Mathilda's whole family is murdered. Though she didn't like most of her family, the death of her 4-year old brother has a negative impact on her as he was the only one in her family who she cared about. Her bonding with Leon is an interesting plot point as he was one of the only people who she really cared about. The time they spend together made me grow an attachment to them.

Because of this slightly risky choice, however, some people argued that Leon was a pedophile and Mathilda's character was too overly-sexualized. To some extent, I could see why someone would think that, but there are reasons for this. Mathilda came from a broken home where she had a burning hatred towards most of her family members. Leon was one of the only people that she cared for. Also, since she was 12, she was probably just starting to go through puberty and was just starting to discover her sexual feelings towards others. She even admitted to Leon that she was (or thought she was) falling in love with him. Despite her efforts to flirt with him, Leon thankfully refused her attempts and he chose to love her more as a father than to actually share a romance with her. I don't agree with these arguments that much and I think that the movie handled that plot point in the most appropriate way it could.

Also, the acting is really great in this film. Most people usually mention how Natalie Portman gave a fantastic performance and I agree with that. It's hard to find a really good child actor in most films, but she was exceptional in her role. Even though I felt like she was a little annoying at times, those few scenes did not break all of the other scenes she was in where she was able to show different emotions very convincingly. She was able to go from a frightened young child to someone capable of killing so convincingly, it makes her relationship with Leon more realistic and plausible.

Jean Reno gave an intense and solid performance too. None of his lines were ever cringeworthy and his face conveys a great myriad of numerous emotions and great sensitivity which in a way, made the action scenes slightly better. He did a good job in the movie, but I don't think that enough credit is going to Gary Oldman. Gary Oldman as Stansfield gave an exceptional role as the villain. He is able to look threatening just at the sight of him. Every time he's on screen, you feel a sense of uneasiness and a sense that something bad is about to happen. In one of the scenes when he confronts Mathilda in the bathroom, that scene is very tense not just because of the most obvious reason, but because his performance gives the scene quite an unnerving feel to it. All 3 of them expertly carried the movie and I can't think of any other actors or actresses who would better fit their roles.

Unfortunately, however, like many other action movies I've seen, I felt that one viewing was enough for me. At its core, it is a pretty genuine action movie and I felt like it didn't provide enough that made me want to revisit it for future viewings since I was already aware of what happened in it. My reason for this has a lot to do with the fact that I wasn't too engaged by its action scenes. "Mad Max: Fury Road" has extremely absorbing action so I wanted to revisit that one after I watched it, but I can't say the same about this one. Is this point subjective? Yes, but I can't help the fact that I feel this way.

In conclusion, this was a very great movie. I do feel like one viewing is enough for me, but that's not to say that it's a bad movie by any means. It contains original and interesting plot points, characters which I cared for, and outstanding acting performances for the 3 main leads. It is a great movie, and I'm glad that I checked it out. I can understand why so many people like this film.