An unlikely relationship forms between 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman), who seeks revenge on the gangsters who slaughtered her family, and an assassin, Léon (Jean Reno), who lives in the same apartment building and teaches her how to 'clean'.
A love story between a grown man and a twelve year old girl: sounds a bit dodgy, doesn't it? Director Luc Besson tries his hardest to pull it off by making Reno's character almost childlike, and having Portman's Mathilda act well beyond her years, swearing, smoking, and more than capable of looking after herself. In the end, though, it still feels very awkward
Sporting a Louise Brooks bobbed haircut and wearing shorts and a vest, Mathilda is definitely sexualised, kinda like a cross between Lolita, Mindy from Kick Ass and that girl from Lazy Town, which makes her relationship with Léon rather uncomfortable viewing at times, especially when the characters declare their feelings for each other, or when Mathilda tells a hotel manager that she is Léon's lover.
Thankfully, the film's love angle is never developed beyond the platonic, and Besson breaks up the emotional drama with numerous shootouts and explosions as Mathilda tries to find and kill villain Stansfield (Gary Oldman) with help from Léon. It's mindlessly entertaining, I suppose, but not nearly good enough to warrant the film's current IMDb ranking (#27 in the Top 250).
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
A love story between a grown man and a twelve year old girl: sounds a bit dodgy, doesn't it? Director Luc Besson tries his hardest to pull it off by making Reno's character almost childlike, and having Portman's Mathilda act well beyond her years, swearing, smoking, and more than capable of looking after herself. In the end, though, it still feels very awkward
Sporting a Louise Brooks bobbed haircut and wearing shorts and a vest, Mathilda is definitely sexualised, kinda like a cross between Lolita, Mindy from Kick Ass and that girl from Lazy Town, which makes her relationship with Léon rather uncomfortable viewing at times, especially when the characters declare their feelings for each other, or when Mathilda tells a hotel manager that she is Léon's lover.
Thankfully, the film's love angle is never developed beyond the platonic, and Besson breaks up the emotional drama with numerous shootouts and explosions as Mathilda tries to find and kill villain Stansfield (Gary Oldman) with help from Léon. It's mindlessly entertaining, I suppose, but not nearly good enough to warrant the film's current IMDb ranking (#27 in the Top 250).
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.