Leon The Professional

Jean Reno is Leon, a deadly and elusive killer. He lives a routine life, alone in New York with just his pot-plant for company—until the day his twelve year-old neighbour Mathilde (Nathalie Portman in her screen debut) rings his doorbell in desperation. Mathilde has just narrowly escaped being murdered along with her parents and baby brother by a ruthless and corrupt cop Stansfield (Gary Oldman) and his colleagues. Leon reluctantly takes Mathilde under his wing, and the two go on the run. But Mathilde wants revenge, and as she soon discovers, Leon can teach her how to exact it…

AroView: The director of NIKITA revamps his French hit with American money and the English language. An Italian hitman in New York reluctantly adopts a 12-year-old girl whose family have died at the bloodied hand of a maniac cop. Besson shows little restraint, which is just fine in the film’s many action sequences.