On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 6. There’s only so much time in the world, and there are so many movies that are definitive in their genre, that mark special moments in time, that revolutionise cinema, or are just simply that good that it is impossible to see them all. There’s a safety in the realisation that Leon is unable to pose any kind of threat to a 12 year old child.

Léon killed the father in revenge and fled to New York, where he met Tony and trained to become a hitman. Oldman is the least inhibited actor of his generation, and as this deranged detective, he keeps absolutely nothing in reserve. One of his men arrives and informs him that Léon killed Malky, one of the corrupt DEA agents, in Chinatown that morning. For those not familiar with Leon, the basic crux of the matter centres on clinical hitman Leon (Reno) and young Mathilda (Portman). It is the most electrifying performance I have seen from Gary Oldman, this edgy, wired, unpredictable sociopath.Leon’s childlike innocence means that it is Mathilda who has the emotional strength in the relationship, the emotional power. To celebrate this landmark, Studiocanal has put together a new 4K release of the director’s cut of Leon. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade.

But don’t just simply label Leon as a gun-toting actioner, for Luc Besson crafted something utterly beautiful with this ’94 offering as he explored the relationship and burgeoning bond between the movie’s two protagonists. Mathilda walks onto a field near the school to plant Léon's houseplant, as she had told Léon, to "give it roots".It is the best Luc Besson film that I have seen to date, combining a box office crowd pleaser with art-house sensibilities. I had an issue with my check disc in that the Director’s Cut drops out of sync between 85:03 and 88:22.

When Léon was eighteen in Italy, he fell in love with a girl from a wealthy family, but Léon's family was poor. At the time of the accusations, Natalie Portman discussed her "complicated feelings" about the film and her associated Lolita-like sexualization as a child. While most of the interior footage was shot in France, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York City. She’s out getting groceries the day the crooked DEA agents pay her father a visit, looking for some missing dope, and wind up killing her family.He picks up a 12 year old girl after she is orphaned in a brutal fashion, takes her in, and starts to teach her his trade, how to kill, even taking her on jobs. She seeks shelter with lone hitman Leon (Reno) and, when she learns his profession, demands he train her so she can avenge the slaying of her family. It seems absolutely crazy to think that Luc Besson’s Leon is now celebrating 25 years since its initial release, but it is indeed 25 years and counting since this iconic movie was first released in 1994. That doesn’t mean that they’re not enjoyable, mind, just there’s no new material for long-time Leon fans to sink their teeth into.

When Léon is out on a job, Mathilda fills a bag with guns from Léon's collection and sets out to kill Stansfield. The New York Times ' Janet Maslin wrote, " The Professional is much too sentimental to sound shockingly amoral in the least. This could be the sticking point in the film, except the emotional maturity of the characters redeems this story arc.

I wish I had seen it back in the nineties, and shared the experience of discovering this amazing concoction of popular cinema. According to Besson, this is the version he wanted to release, but for the fact that the extra scenes tested poorly with Los Angeles preview audiences.