Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno as the mob hitman and Gary Oldman as corrupt DEA agent Stansfield. It also stars a young Natalie Portman, in her feature film debut, as Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered by assassins. The movie follows the developing and at times strange relationship between Leon and Mathilda. Léon does his best to look after Mathilda and keep her out of trouble but is unsuccessful as she starts learning the tools of the assassin trade and becomes his apprentice. The movie is a stylish andengrossing thriller with some fantastic action scenes.
Léon: The Professional received favourable reviews from critics. Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine awarded the film a full five stars. He said: "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". Mark Deming at Allmovie.com awarded the film four stars out of five, saying it was "as visually stylish as it is graphically violent", featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman". The character Stansfield has been named by multiple publications as one of cinema's greatest villains.