After Her Family is Killed a Young Girl Wants to be Become an Assassin

Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show  you a drama, crime, and action film from 1994, entitled Léon: The Professional. Spoilers ahead!

Watch out and take care. A tracking shot takes us to Little Italy  in New York and inside a restaurant. Tony tasks Léon to convince the fat man that moving  into Maurizio's territory isn't a good idea.

Léon takes the task. On the day, the fat man  enters his hotel with a massive security detail. He's there to see his girl and do some business. 

Léon arrives at the reception. The man gets a call from Tonto, telling him that a serious man  is coming up to talk to him. He alerts his men about the incoming company.

They wait in front  of the elevator and the moment somebody appears, they start shooting. The body was Tonto. The  rest of the men scatter, to get the car ready and search for the assassin.

As the main bodyguard  looks over the stairwell, Léon grabs him and pulls him over. The others are packing up the drugs  and money, getting ready to run out of there. Léon keeps picking the bodyguards off and blocks  both the exits.

He traps the fat man in the room and kills off the rest of his detail. Then peeks  through a bullet hole, prompting the man to fire. The man grabs more guns and a telephone to call  911.

He says somebody is trying to kill him and hides until they connect him to an officer. Léon  shows up behind him and he hangs up. He tells Léon to take the drugs and let him live, but he  just shows him a number and tells him to call it.

Maurizio greets him from the other side of the  line and tells him that they'll never see him back in town again. He asks for Léon, then tells  him to make sure he understands and let him go. Léon tells him to say that he understands and  disappears into the darkness.

Later, Léon gets his usual milk from the neighborhood store and  walks into his building. Mathilda is sitting on the stairs and sees him walking up, then greets  him. Léon can tell that someone beat her up, but she lies about how it happened.

She tells him  not to tell her dad about the cigarette. Suddenly someone walks out of her apartment and argues  with her father about the drugs he holds for them. Malky tells him that he has to be honest about  the drugs so he doesn't have to disturb his boss.

However, Mathilda's father sticks to his story  so Malky tells his boss that he wouldn't admit to cutting the drugs. Stan turns around and  sniffs the father, saying that he believes him, but that he has to find out who did by tomorrow at  noon. They leave and the father yells after them that they should find out themselves, then slaps  Mathilda around.

Léon overhears the whole thing. He showers, drinks his milk, irons his shirts, and  most importantly takes care of his plant. As night falls, Léon sits down in his chair and sleeps.

The next day, Mathilda's family is going through their morning routine. We see her dad,  mom, older sister, and little brother. Léon is doing his morning exercise.

The dad tells  her mom that he thinks he screwed up this time. Mathilda changes the TV station and her sister  chases after her, slapping her around when she gets to her. The phone rings and the girl answers. 

It's Mathilda's school calling to tell her parents that she's skipped school for two weeks and if  they don't explain why she'll get kicked out. Mathilda says that she's dead. Léon puts his  plant in the sunlight and leaves his apartment, overhearing the mess at Mathilda's.

He  watches "Singing in the Rain" in the cinema, enjoying every second. When he gets back home  he finds Mathilda on the stairs with a bloody nose and tells her that life is always hard. She  asks him if she should get him some milk from the store.

Back at his apartment, he grabs a glass  and some milk. Simultaneously, armed men walk into the building, followed by Stan. He takes  some sort of drug and says he likes the calm little moments before the storm.

Mathilda's dad is  waiting for them to arrive as they said they would and Léon sees them in the hallway. Stan shoots his  way into the apartment and his men go after him. He kills the mother first, then kills the  older daughter and ransacks the place.

His men are scared of him too. Stan finally gets  to the father and tells him it's one minute past noon. Malky and the rest come inside and he tells  them to toss the apartment.

Meanwhile, Mathilda is in the store getting groceries. Stan toys with the  dad while the little boy hides under the bed. The men are going through the apartment and Stan steps  aside for a moment, just long enough for the dad to reach for the gun and start shooting.

One of  Stan's men freaks out and shoots the whole place, killing the boy. The dad runs but Stan still gets  him. When he sees that he got blood on his suit, he follows him and empties an entire clip in him. 

The man waiting outside gets nervous as he hears the shooting and Malky stops Stan from shooting  anymore. Malky steps outside and almost gets shot by the other guy Benny. Mathilda walks back into  the building and immediately realizes something is happening.

She sees that her dad is dead and  hears Malky say that they killed her brother. She rings Léon's doorbell begging him to let  her in, while one of Stan's men watches her struggle in front of the door. Léon hesitates but  eventually opens his door for her.

She goes into the kitchen and he stays by the door. Malky sees  that Mathilda is missing and they look for her. The man by the door remembers Mathilda and comes  to Léon's door.

He follows him with his gun, when she turns on the TV, scaring both of them. They  find the drugs as the rest of the cops arrive. Stan tells his man to tell them that they were  doing their job.

Léon expresses his condolences to Mathilda about her family, but she tells him that  they were all terrible, except her little brother, who she loved very much. He gets a pig oven glove  from the kitchen and tries to cheer Mathilda up in a childish way. Léon asks if she has anywhere  else to go and she says no.

He gets some more milk when Mathilda opens his case and finds his guns.  When he comes back she asks if he's a cleaner, a hit-man. He says yeah.

Later, Mathilda asks  how much it would take to hire him to kill the men that killed her brother, and when she hears  the price, she offers him a deal - in exchange for working for him he'll teach her how to become  a cleaner. Léon says no, but she tells him that she has nowhere else to go. Instead of arguing,  he tells her to rest and they'll talk tomorrow.

He tucks her into bed and she tells him that he's  been very good to her. In the middle of the night, Léon decides to kill the girl. When he  reaches the bed, however, he changes his mind.

The following morning Léon puts his plant  in the sunlight and does his exercise. He hears Mathilda get up and tells her that after  breakfast she needs to leave. Mathilda hands him a note only realizes that he can't read.

It  says that she's decided what to do with her life. Mathilda wants to be a cleaner. Léon gives  her a gun as his goodbye gift.

He works alone! Mathilda tries to convince him by  saying that since he saved her life, he's responsible for it. Léon tells Mathilda  that she's just a little girl and that she won't be able to do it.

Mathilda takes the gun and  shoots out of the window as proof that she can. Later, Léon and Mathilda are seen walking down  the street. He stops and tells her never to do that again because it's unprofessional.

They get  to a hotel. The receptionist asks if they plan to play the violin there, so Mathilda lies  and charms him into saying that it's fine. He gives them some forms to fill out and Mathilda  grabs them, saying she'll do that so Léon doesn't feel ashamed.

Léon leaves the plant downstairs  and joins her in the room. He goes through it, checking it out thoroughly, then sits down  as Mathilda finishes with the documentation. She pleads with him again to teach her  how to be a cleaner.

Sometime later, Léon goes to talk to Tony. He asked him to get a  gun meant for beginners and Tony can't believe it. Léon tells him he needs it to practice.

Later, he  opens the box with a rifle in front of Mathilda. He says that the rifle is the first weapon she  needs to learn because it will let her keep her distance from the client. The closer she gets  to becoming a pro, the closer she can get to the client.

They find the right position.  For practice, he tells her to hit whomever. Mathilda peers through the scope and says no  women and no kids.

She sees a man jogging and Léon tells her what to do. He says now  and she hits the guy with a paintball. Léon is impressed.

Later, Mathilda is seen washing  the windows and the dishes and cleaning the guns. They do crunches together and Léon makes her  drink milk. At night, she sleeps in the bed and he sleeps in a chair as always.

He wakes  her early in the morning to do more crunches, but she exercises with the same program her sister  did. She teaches Léon how to write and he teaches Mathilda to put a gun together. One day, Mathilda  thinks they need a break and tells him they should play an association game.

She dresses up like  Madonna, then Marilyn Monroe, then Chaplin, but Léon has no idea who they are. Lastly, she  dresses like Gene Kelly and Léon finally gets it. For his turn, he acts like John Wayne, but  she has no idea who he's supposed to be.

Mathilda watches Léon taking care of his plant and  comments that he really loves it. He says that the plant is like him. She tells him that if he really  loves it he should plant it so it can grow roots.

One day, Léon goes to see Tony and asks him  if someday he can have the money he's made over the years. Tony thinks he's met a woman and  tells him that he has to be careful with women. He reminds him that he was in trouble because of  a woman before.

Léon says that he would like to give some of the money to help someone out. Tony  agrees and tells him that his money is there, he should just ask. Then he hands him a hundred  dollars and says they need to talk business.

While Tony's away, Léon sees Mathilda talking to a  boy and goes out to talk to her. He scolds her not to talk to random people on the street, tells her  to stop cursing and to stop smoking. Back at the hotel, Mathilda tells Léon that she's falling in  love with him.

Léon asks her how she knows and she says that she feels it in her stomach. He tells  her that it doesn't mean anything and leaves for work. He has a teeny breakdown in the hallway  but quickly gets it together.

Mathilda watches him go from the window. Later, she talks to the  receptionist and tells him that Léon isn't her father, but her lover and leaves the man stunned.  She goes to her apartment and sneaks in behind the tape.

Mathilda takes her brother's stuffed  bunny and steps in the outline of his dead body. She finds her dad's secret money when she hears  Stan come in and hides. Mathilda hears him tell IA that her father reached for the gun so he  had to kill him and that he didn't see any kids.

The other cops tell him to cooperate. He says  that if he wants them to cooperate they should come to his office. Mathilda remembers the number  of his office.

She runs after him, gets in a cab, and tells the cabbie to follow the car. Mathilda  finds out that Stan is a D. E.

A. agent. She's already back in the room when Léon arrives.

He  gives her a present when the receptionist knocks on their door to kick them out of the hotel. Mathilda and Léon get another place. He takes a shower and stitches himself up.

Mathilda pours  him a glass of milk, hands him the money she got, and orders a hit on the men that killed her  family. Léon says he's not taking the job and that he won't lend her his gear. Mathilda asks  him why he's being so mean to her and why he won't help her avenge her family.

Léon says that  revenge is never good, that it's better to forget. But Mathilda can't forget. He tells her that  nothing is the same after you kill someone, she'll have to sleep with one eye open for the  rest of her life.

Mathilda loads the revolver and says that if she wins the game of roulette he has  to keep her forever. Léon tells her that she'll lose because there is a round in the chamber. She  puts the revolver on her temple and says that she loves him, but he grabs the gun and it fires  away from her head.

Mathilda thinks she's won. They go to see Tony together. Léon says that he  took a hit and needs help.

Even though Mathilda's young, she learns fast. Tony hesitates but tells  his busboy to get two glasses of milk for them. Léon and Mathilda go to do a job together.

He  teaches her how to tell where the chain is. Léon rings the bell and she starts talking, convincing  the man to open the door for her. Léon breaks the chain and she comes in after him.

He puts his  gun in the man's mouth and brings him along as he checks out the place. When he sees that it's  clear, he tells the man where to stand and tells Mathilda that it's her turn. The girl puts her gun  together and shoots the man with a paintball.

Then delivers the second - security shot. Léon explains  what each shot is for as the man is confused about what they're doing. He tells her never to shoot  in the face because they need to recognize the client.

Léon shoots the man and tells Mathilda how  to take care of her silencer. Before they leave, she destroys the drugs. Later, they celebrate  with champagne.

Mathilda asks for a kiss, but he says no and tells her to sit down. She tells  him she's in love with him again. Léon tells her his first hit was when he was 19.

Mathilda chugs a  whole glass of wine and laughs maniacally, making Léon super nervous. They go to make another hit  and another, perfecting their routine. When they reach one apartment, Léon hears the man inside  preparing a gun and gets Mathilda out of the way.

He tells her that when it's ugly like that, she  should use the ring trick. Léon chucks a grenade into the apartment and shows her the grenade ring. The next day, Léon goes to see Tony by himself.

He's nervous and sits down telling Tony  that if something happens to him one day, he should give his money to Mathilda. Tony says  that he can count on him. Later, Léon gets ready for a job but tells Mathilda that he can't bring  her with him because it's a big one.

He tells her that he needs a moment for himself, some time to  grow up. Mathilda is left by herself, taking care of the plant, watching TV, getting older. A few  boys try to bully her, but she just gives them money and tells them to play somewhere else.

She's  planning something. Mathilda stakes out Stan's workplace and follows him inside. She pretends  she's taking food to his office and signs into the building without a hitch.

Mathilda follows Stan  into the men's room, but he waits for her there. He orders her to put the bag on the floor and tell  him who sent her. Mathilda says she does business for herself.

He asks if it's something personal  and she tells him that he killed her brother. Stan apologizes but asks Mathilda if she wants  to join him. She wants to live and he says that's good because he takes no pleasure in killing  someone that doesn't want to live.

Suddenly, one of his men comes in and tells him that Malky  is dead. The people he was making a deal with told the guy that a pro killed Malky. Before the  professional shot him he said "no women, no kids".

Stan doesn't kill Mathilda and tells his man to  take her to his office. She realizes that Léon killed Malky. When Léon gets back home he finds  a note from Mathilda saying that she's after Stan and that she's left money for a contract  to kill them if they end up killing her.

She says she loves him again. Léon quickly  goes to the D. E.

A. office to get Mathilda. She's in Stan's office with his men who  wonder what she would do with all those guns.

Suddenly, Léon shoots them both and they hug. That  night, Mathilda puts on the dress he got for her. Léon likes it.

She sits next to him and tries to  seduce him. Léon rejects her because he can't. He tells her about a woman that he was in love  with, back in Italy.

Her father didn't want her to see Léon so he killed her. The police  let the father go after two days. One night, Léon killed him and took a boat to America. 

Since then he never had another girlfriend. Mathilda says okay, but makes him share the bed  with her. Léon sleeps in a bed after a long time.

Later, Tony gets a visit from Stan. They surround  his restaurant. Stan sits down and asks Tony if he knows who killed Malky, considering the hit was on  his territory by an Italian-looking man.

He also tells her about Mathilda and the man who came to  get her from his office. Stan wants to meet him. Léon wakes up the following morning.

Mathilda  asks if he slept well, but he answers that he always sleeps with one eye open. She gets up  to buy some milk and they repeat the secret knock. Léon lies back down.

When Mathilda gets  back, Stan is there waiting for her. A SWAT team grabs her before she can get into the apartment.  They ask her for the key and if there is a way of knocking so he knows it's her.

Mathilda gives  them the wrong code. The men knock on the door, get ready to storm the apartment,  and inform Stan they're ready to go. Once they go inside, they don't see Léon, who  closes the door behind them and kills them.

The others see that they're dead and call it in. Stan  turns to Benny and tells him to bring everyone. Police patrols and emergency services surround  the building and more SWAT enter the building.

Léon waits in the apartment and begins shooting  until he also gets hit. One of the cops takes a look at the apartment and finds himself eye to  eye with Léon's gun. He tells the others and they back away.

Léon tells them to let Mathilda  go. She joins him and gets the ax off the wall, while he backs up, holding the officer hostage.  He shoots the sprinklers and the other officers think he shot their guy so they come in shooting,  killing him themselves.

Léon shoots again and they back away, asking for reinforcements. Mathilda  apologizes as Léon prepares for the fight. He saves his plant from the incoming sniper fire. 

Then they go into the other room. The police block out the hallway and Léon makes another way  for them to get out. He shoots a hole in the wall and puts Mathilda in there.

She doesn't want to  go because she knows he won't fit in there too. Léon tells her that he has lots of money with Tony  that they will take and leave together. Meanwhile, the police are preparing to blow them up.

Mathilda  is worried that she'll lose him, but Léon tells her that she's given him a taste for life and  he never wants to be alone again. He convinces her to leave down the shaft and tells her that  he loves her. The police blow up the apartment, but thankfully Léon survives.

They get ready to go  in when they see someone raising their hand. The man gets picked up and taken down. Léon managed  to fool them into thinking he's one of theirs and they get him out.

Meanwhile, Stan is pissed that  they can't find one man and a girl while Mathilda gets out of the building. The medic is taking care  of Léon when Stan arrives and recognizes him. Léon puts the mask back on and Stan gets all of the  officers out.

Mathilda exits from the back then walks right by the cops. Léon gets downstairs and  is close to the exit when Stan shows up behind him and shoots him. He leans to check on him and Léon  asks if he's Stan.

When he confirms it for Léon, he puts a grenade ring in his hand and says  that it's from Mathilda. They both blow up. Mathilda is with Tony who suggests that he  can hold the money for her as he did for Léon.

He gives her a hundred bucks, but she asks for a  job as a cleaner. Tony yells at her that it's over because Léon is dead. They both hurt for him.

Tony  tells her to get the money and get back to school. Mathilda goes back to the school where she was  kicked out off and tells them a fake story about how her parents died. The principal welcomes her  back to the school but gives her the condition to stop lying to her.

She wants Mathilda to trust  her. She tells her the truth and shocks the woman. Mathilda plants Léon's plant in the yard  and says that they'll be okay there.