The Cleaner - By Maniac
(an edit of The Professional a.k.a. Leon)
Maniac has definite style. He hits his edits with both a scalpel and a sledgehammer. In this version you will not find much of the chit chat which effectively eliminates the stereotypical racist tropes Luc Besson can’t help but add to his films. While I still prefer the original version, if you want the fast and dirty romp this is the way to go.
Not all the cuts are completely smooth, and the audio sounds a little muddy, like it’s been normalized, squashed and all sorts of processed. The sound is not completely terrible but not as clean as the original. Also gone is the ending music by Sting but in it’s place a kind of similar sounding soft track. Given the other changes made, such as our favorite hitman smiling giddily while watching the bloody shootout in Scarface, I would have bet on more hardcore outgoing music. Alas we got an odd tropical farewell.
Maniac has no time for mickey mouse bullshit, including end credits. 3 out of 5 stars.