Leon

1994 • 132 minutes

About this movie

Jean Reno (Mission: Impossible, Ronin, The Crimson Rivers), Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy, Romeo Is Bleeding, The Dark Knight), Danny Aillo (Fingers, Do the Right Thing, A Brooklyn State of Mind) and Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta, Goyas Ghost, Mars Attacks) in her film debut, all star in this highly influential, seminal '90s action/thriller. Directed by Luc Besson (Subway, The Big Blue, Nikita, The Fifth Element), Leon is the controversial and unforgettable story of an unlikely friendship within a brutal and violent world. Twelve-year-old Mathilda lives within the desperate confines of a squalid New York apartment block. On returning from a shopping trip Mathilda finds that her abusive, dysfunctional family (and her beloved younger brother) have been slaughtered by a psychotic, drug dealing police officer. In fear for her life she takes refuge with her reluctant, mysterious and solitary neighbour. His name is Leon and hes one of the worlds deadliest assassins. And while Mathilda begins to teach him how to live, Leon begins to teach her how to kill.

Ratings and reviews

A strange and at times uncomfortable tale. Odd and interesting relationship between Leon and Mathilda. I kept telling myself she saw him as her adopted father. Its for the viewer to interpret. A fair bit of gun love/explosions but not too much. Enjoyable Gary Oldman performance worth watching just for his antics. Aged well, watched it again yesterday.

Strange and desolate and wonderful with outstanding turns by the leads, especially a 12 year old Natalie Portman. It's well written and the cinematography is excellent. The music seems to be a character in its own right and it's well chosen and perfectly placed. The only glitch is all that breast milk - dairy industry had people believing that it's ok to rape cows, take their babies away 9 months later and steal their milk to give to humans because it's essential for good bone health. The dairy industry LIED. But it wasn't widely known in '94 that plants are the best source of calcium and that dairy is a cause of cancers, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimers and osteoporosis, as well as global warming. Anyways, I doubt I'll be buying this - it's not exactly a happy movie but it's a work of art that should be enjoyed by everyone at least once.

This directors cut is extremely uncomfortable to watch with the over sexualisation of a 12yr old. The added scenes distract from the theatrical cut and only make the end scene in the the alleyway rewarding as both child killer and potential child rapist explode. I would suggest this edit be removed from the platform and links to supports be made available in the review section