Words from me:
I have just seen the film yesterday at my cousin's house with my Dad and Brother nagging to watch it. So i sat with them and thought i would just endure the whole film or just sleep if i couldn't take it anymore. After watching it, I just realized how awake i was for the duration of the entire film.

It was my first time to appreciate a corrupted and violent film. (Although it wasn't really corrupted, but i still think its a violent kind of movie...) Natalie Portman's portrayal as Mathilda took me by surprise. Her character was really innocent and yet... so mature. I don't have the right words to describe it right now. All i can say... she was perfect for the role. Leon... Leon was the Hitman. He wasn't smart. But he was honest. I loved his character with all the complexities in it. Mathilda was his perfect match. Jean Reno as Leon (the italian guy) was just perfect, as perfect as Natalie Portman to Mathilda.

The whole movie was awesome beyond words and description. I was taking every scene in... as if being engulfed by laughter, sadness and fear all at the same time. Talk about ambivalence! Watching a 30 year old guy being paired off to an 11 year old kid...weird. But It's all worth watching again.

Summary: MAJOR SPOILER

Léon (Jean Reno) is a lonely and emotionally detached hitman. He lives a solitary life in New York City and spends his time watching musicals in between training and taking assassin jobs for Italian mafioso Tony (Danny Aiello). Léon is seen in a cinema, watching a musical with faint amazement at the joie de vivre depicted by the film's characters, something he himself is unable to express. He meets Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl who lives with an abusive family in the same apartment building. After corrupt DEA agents, headed by agent Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman), kill Mathilda's family, Léon saves Mathilda by grudgingly opening his apartment door to let her in with her groceries.

Mathilda then pressures Léon into taking her in, since she has nowhere to go. She tries to persuade him to teach her his trade so she can avenge her brother's murder. In return, she offers herself to do all his house work. After an initial one night stay at his apartment, Léon accepts her offer. Working together, the two slowly build an emotional attachment to each other, with Léon becoming both Mathilda's friend and also a father figure. In taking care of her, Léon begins to find something more meaningful in his life than his job.

As Mathilda gains confidence, she tails Stansfield and enters the DEA building in an attempt to kill him. She is caught by him and held as a captive by his cronies. Léon finds a letter of her intent on revenge and heads to the building. He rescues her, killing a number of Stansfield's men in the process. At this point, Mathilda is desperate for revenge and Leon has become sympathetic to her situation. (Unknown to Mathilda, Leon was out assassinating Stanfield's men while Mathilda was tailing Stanfield.) Stansfield becomes enraged by the "Italian hitman" and confronts Tony, who gives up Léon's whereabouts after a beating by Stansfield. As Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU (Emergency Service Unit) team, headed by Stansfield, is waiting for her. Léon holds a member of the ESU team hostage, and orders him to let Mathilda go. He does, and Léon tells Mathilda to grab a nearby fire axe. Léon, still holding the ESU team member hostage, shoots the fire sprinkler and brings Mathilda into his room, leaving the ESU member outside. Assuming Léon had shot their colleague, the ESU team open fire, and accidentally kill their unarmed colleague. Léon hacks open a ventilation shaft located in the kitchen with the fire axe, and sends Mathilda to safety. As he tells her to go on, Léon expresses his love for her and how they will meet up and live a normal life together.

As Mathilda escapes the apartment and heads down the block amidst the large police presence, Léon is left behind. He uses the confusion of a rocket propelled grenade to steal a vest and mask from a fallen ESU officer. The next ESU officer that rushes in sees him wearing the uniform and assumes he is a fellow officer. He is ushered out of the smoke filled apartment. Seeing an opportunity to slip out unnoticed, Léon takes off out the building, where he is spotted by Stansfield. Stansfield sneaks up behind Léon and shoots him from behind. As Léon lies in a pool of blood, Stansfield has a chance to speak with Léon face to face before he dies. During their exchange, Léon reveals the pulled pin of a grenade that is strapped to his chest. (He had told Mathilda earlier in the film that this move is known as 'the ring trick') The grenade explodes and kills the two. Mathilda is then seen returning to school as the film ends. Mathilda plants Léon's plant (whom he refers to as his 'best friend' and nurtures throughout the film) in the grounds of the school, in memory of him, and as she had once promised she would, 'to give it roots'.