Do we need spoiler tags now we're into the review phase? Anyway I've not used them here because I don't think I'm revealing more of the plot than exists in the trailer summary. I'll add them if that's what people prefer.
I thought it was brilliant - from the opening fly in over the trees, to the bookending closing scenes. I liked the acting, the story, the atmosphere. And I liked all of those things despite not being much of a gangster/action fan, nor Lolita-esque plotline enthusiast nor Luc Besson admirer.
Something got be hooked and kept me watching. The remote was left undisturbed throughout, no pauses for coffee, no channel flipping to check on the Arsenal match, no halfwatched sequences where I picked up my phone or skimmed the café. For something that I watched at home and alone, it got a lot more than my normal level of attention or respect.
I suspect though that it's not one of those films I'll watch again and again, looking for nuance or because I'm hypnotised by the mood and the characters. Rather it was one that I watched because I wanted to know what would happen next, and how we would get there. I suspect it's a first time you watch whammy or a not at all - I'd be interested to know if it's different for other people.
Incidentally, not knowing much about the movie going in, it was only afterwards I realised that there are/were two edits of the movie. The standard US cinema release of 90-odd minutes and another longer version (2 hours+) with more Leon/Mathilde at work and at home scenes. I saw the longer version and I really don't think I'd have been so impressed without those sequences - in fact I can't really visualise what the movie would be without them. It intrigues me that the scenes were dropped on the basis of initial test screenings and bad audience reactions.
If anyone has seen the shorter version, does it work as anything other than a shoot-em-up?
