Ahead of its time! (Leon (DVD))

Member Name: richy77

Product:	Leon (DVD)
Date:	05/11/01 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting, Good storyline, Powerful music

Disadvantages: Cut version of movie

It maybe hard to believe but last night was the first time I had seen Leon. I had heard so many good things about the Luc Besson directed movie that I decided it was time to actually give it a go!

Leon is about a lonely professional hitman (Jean Reno) who gets caught up in a drugs families problem. Leon lives on his own in a flat but one day he notices some problems with his neighbours. To be honest problems is an understatement. The family get murdered by a corrupt cop (Gary Oldman) and his gang. By luck they don't manage to kill one of the daughters Matilda (Natalie Portman) and Leon comes to the rescue and takes her into his life. Matilda is obviously affected badly by the murder of her family and seeks assistance from the hitman for revenge.

What makes Leon stand out from other films is the powerful soundtrack and great storyline. There are a lot of tense scenes during the movie which are added to by the loud and scarey music. Leon is not that violent but scenes are made more shocking by the music. The action on show with this film is first class. There is only one explosion during the movie but a lot of the scenes are well shot.

Onto the acting. The three main characters in this movie do an excellent job. Natalie Portman is superb as the troubled daughter. For such a young actresses at the time she shows experience way past what you would expect. Jean Reno does a good job as the independent hitman. Gary Oldman is also exceptional as the corrupt cop. He charcter seems to have a creepy element which Oldman brings to the screen in brilliant style. This is probably the best role that I have seen him in.

Overall Leon is a good film and has influenced many films over the past decade. My only gripe is that I didnt watch the new uncut version which is out on DVD and at times the version which I watched didnt seemed consistent. Alot of things happened suddenly and there was no build up.

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