Short Summary is an original series in which I write brief reviews of movies, TV shows, video games, books, and more. Spoiler alert, just in case!

Leon: The Professional is often included on lists of the top action movies of all time and placed rather highly on those lists. But when I finished watching this movie for the first time, I thought that there wasn’t much action, and I don’t mean that as a bad thing.

My opinion of Leon: The Professional very much agrees with the consensus: it’s absolutely one of the best action movies ever made.

So why would that be? Well while there are really only two major action scenes, they bookend the film, and they do so effectively. The action is intense and so well-done, filmed in such a way that you feel like you’re actually there. It’s usually limited to small spaces and stays contained, so the choreography is tight. It almost feels claustrophobic. Many other factors of each scene dial the tension up to 11, yet I don’t want to spoil anything specific about them.

For Leon: The Professional, it’s the choices made around the action sequences, with the direction, story, and characters, that directly affect and enhance the action sequences themselves. The camerawork keeps it simple and steady, even during the action, and particular shots are instantly memorable. The plot revolves around the titular Leon, who’s a hitman living in New York City. He takes in a young girl named Mathilda, and she asks him to teach her how to “clean,” or how to become a hitman herself. He reluctantly, however eventually, accepts.

The actors all have great performances. Jean Reno plays Leon as perhaps autistic, certainly reserved and emotionally repressed as a hitman would be. This is Natalie Portman’s first big-screen appearance as Mathilda, so it’s the youngest you’ve probably ever seen her. I think she takes the cake as one of the most talented child actors for her tragic portrayal in this movie. Finally, you cannot accuse Gary Oldman of being typecast. In this movie, he plays an unhinged, drugged-up, crooked cop in an over-the-top performance that’s still intimidating and scary as hell.

Now as for the characters themselves, Leon and Mathilda are the central focus. Of course, we spend the most time with them, and they spend the most time together. The film develops who they are independently as well as who they are to one another. It’s no doubt an odd, sometimes awkward, relationship between mentor and mentee. But as a good duo always does, they help each other understand different aspects of life and come to appreciate it more in the process.

Leon: The Professional has clever writing, a familiar and established setting, and a unique soundtrack. It’s a fantastic thriller and, as previously stated, an amazing action movie. I’m happy that I checked this one out!