Review Detail

I recently watched "Mathilda," the fan edit of "Leon: The Professional," and very much enjoyed it. I have been a fan of this film since it came out and like many fans, I have longed for a sequel with the obvious title "Mathilda: The Professional" that would show her as an adult. The storyline with Danny Aiello was never resolved, and seeing Natalie Portman take on her first role again would have been a treat. We now know that it was never made because the rights are tied up and will probably never get back into director Luc Besson’s hands again. Danny Aiello is dead now, and Natalie Portman is getting up there in age, so I think that the time has passed. So it was cool to see a fan edit that uses the title. Telling the story from Mathilda’s point of view was an original take. I can understand why someone would want to tone down the sexualization of the 13-year-old Portman. Although it’s an impossible task to remove it completely because of her wardrobe. There is a scene where Leon and Mathilda are staying in a hotel, and she insinuates to the manager that the two are not father and daughter but lovers. The line “He's my lover” was removed, so now she just says “He's not my father.” The rest is implied. I can see why the editor did not remove this entire scene because there has to be a reason for them getting kicked out of the hotel, but he did his best to make it less creepy.

The most significant change for me was the addition of new music. This was the part I really enjoyed. The new songs are flawlessly put in, so much so that they seem like they always belonged there. The new songs are also from that era, making it even cooler and harder to remember if they were new or old. Sting’s “The Shape of My Heart” is a good song, but I never felt that it was a great track for this movie as it didn’t really describe Leon very well. The sad Sarah McLachlan track the editor used for the end works better for me, especially because this is Mathilda’s story.

Overall, this is an edit that breathes new life into an old film and lets me enjoy it in a new way. Kudos for the nice cover art as well. Recommended.