Léon: The Professional

R18

1994

133 mins

Directed by Luc Besson
74%
95%
Drama
Thriller

Jean Reno leads Luc Besson’s 1994 crime thriller as the coolest of cool professional assassins who rescues a young girl... More

Jean Reno leads Luc Besson’s 1994 crime thriller as the coolest of cool professional assassins who rescues a young girl (Natalie Portman) made an orphan by a police raid that claimed her family’s lives. Co-stars Gary Oldman. The film went on to catapult Besson to the Hollywood blockbuster scene, attributing his craft to the director’s chair (1997’s The Fifth Element) and the writer’s room (2008’s Taken).

Mathilda (Portman) want revenge – not for her drug-dealing father who brought on the fatal raid, but for her little brother who got placed in the crossfire. Leon (Reno) is neither a father-figure nor a friendly one, but eventually breaks down to Mathilda’s request to even the score. Meanwhile, the corrupt officer who murdered her family is looking to finish the job…

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Where to watch Léon: The Professional

Léon: The Professional is available to stream in New Zealand... More now on Google TV and Apple TV Store and Academy On Demand and AroVision.

Léon: The Professional | Ratings & Reviews

74_%66 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
95_%275,206 reviews
Audience score rating

"Widescreen lensing favors tight close-ups, and multiple shoot-'em-ups are edited with panache."

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Variety

"Having one career highlight performance in a film is a treat. Having three is just spoiling us, and the film is so solidly sold by the actors that it mostly manages to sidestep the potential queasiness in the Léon/Mathilda relationship."

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Total Film

"Oldman is the least inhibited actor of his generation, and as this deranged detective, he keeps absolutely nothing in reserve."

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The Washington Post

"Is much too sentimental to sound shockingly amoral in the least. Even in a finale of extravagant violence, it manages to be maudlin."

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The New York Times

"Always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action."

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Roger Ebert

"Oozing style, wit and confidence from every sprocket, and offering a dizzyingly, fresh perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful."

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