L'immortel

I am fond of thriller movies where dramatic events happen in the very beginning. And where you must follow the plot intensely, not just nodding and seeking clichés... There are lots of events and lines where it is not sure what the solutions will be.

Jean Reno's character fills most of the scenes and all this is enjoyable to watch - he is one of the finest French contemporary actors. L'immortel, of course, is not as good and popular as Leon, or Ronin, where Reno has starred before, but it is still a highly recommendable action movie where fans of Luc Besson's work will not become disappointed.

I have to admit that 22 Bullets is quite a bit more violent than I'm comfortable with; bursts, yes but this revenge thriller starring the venerable Jean Reno is fairly constant, unrelenting and rather ugly.

Yes, it's certificate 18 and is about mobsters, current and ex, slaughtering each other, so I shouldn't be surprised and of course, I could have turned it off. But, it's quite a good movie, quite a long one at a whisker under two hours and so I stuck it out. My three stars is not altered by feelings on this aspect.

Reno, as Charly Mattei is reliably grizzled and back in his native language, does not suffer the stumbling block he had with the English language that he did when he made films in the U.S. Here, he's natural and believable - not exactly likable but it's impossible not to side with him when he stalks his enemies. There's a pretty high body count, accompanied by some very realistic looking wounds, that really aren't very attractive to look at! The make-up department did well, here.

The music has a big part to play in creating the tone, often thunderous and pounding and along with often frenetic camera-work, the film's undeniably jolting and exciting, though those prone to suffering one may well get a migraine as bad as the one that one of the mobsters did.

There are a good number of reviews for this title that outline plot details. I'm going to leave that out - people don't need to read that over again.

All in all, it's a solid movie on a familiar theme, quite involved with some exciting action and stunts. Reno is very good, as all the actors are. If you like your thrillers full-blood and graphically violent, then this could well be an excellent rental or DVD purchase. Me - it's not my favourite and will leave it at that.

I have to say I'm not a fan of Besson's productions, but this one is a good surprise. If you're looking for a very clever plot, forget it. But if you want to enjoy beautiful views of the glorious city of Marseille and have a thrill at the gangster's atmosphere it used to live in, this is the one. Jean Reno is solid like usual, Kad Merad -such a good actor- doesn't find his comfort zone in the bad guy, Marina Fois is brilliant, what on earth is Richard Berry doing in his own movie where his role has no impact? Overall a good moment, not Borsalino or French connection, but i definitely recommend it. If you want to see more of this mysterious city, try to locate the following titles: Comme un aimant, Taxi, Un ange, FC 1 and 2, Borsalino 1 and 2, movies with Raimu...

I went to this movie in Sneak Preview, otherwise I probably would not have gone to watch it. The thought of watching a two hour thing about a French mafioso (do they even have Mafia in France?) who survives 22 bullets and then goes on a rampage of revenge, just doesn't appeal to me...

I'm going to have to admit that the movie wasn't really that bad though. There were some nice (and also brutal) scenes and Jean Reno was his usual steady self, nothing spectacular, but not bad either... overall the acting wasn't too bad. Not outstanding either, but given the fact that there are a lot of French nobody's in the film, (no disrespect intended!) that was a pleasant surprise.

However, there were too many cliché's in this movie to make it anything more than amusing. The whole story was very predictable, with no unexpected plot twists or anything spectacular that will make it memorable.

Conclusion: If you wanna lay back and watch an entertaining movie, this is probably one for you. However, if you are looking for a little more depth, pass on this one. It's not like you haven't seen this before...

Based loosely on a true story premise where a French gangster got pumped with lead and left for dead but miraculously survived the hit, 22 Bullets is a revenge flick worthy of its Europa Corp pedigree so you'll know just what to expect - a stylish thriller filled with anti-heroes, and plenty of gratuitous violence with the charismatic Jean Reno in the role of an avenging angel out to settle scores when the perpetrators just wouldn't leave him alone in his retired life.

As the adage goes, one can never quite leave the gangland, and Reno's Charly Mattei, a once feared mobster in Marseille who signalled his retirement through the selling of his businesses to childhood friend Tony Zacchia (Kad Merad in a serious role), it's all about having a reputation that's still influential, and in order for friends to want to move along with their plans against his moral tones of zero involvement in drugs, the only way is to launch a pre- emptive strike to take Mattei out of the equation, only for the group of gunmen to fail in their quest and Mattei's reputation grows to become L'Immortel for obvious reasons.

Like the Godfather series, one may want to get out from one's violent past, but circumstances pull one right back into the thick of the action. For Mattei, it's almost giving the other cheek up for another slap when the mob goes after him in the hospital, but the last straw that broke the camel's back came from the targeting of his remaining loyal soldiers, and thus the avenging angel is born, nevermind if one of his arm is now paralyzed.

It's a story of honour amongst thieves, how some hoodlums fail to pay heed to the established rules of engagement of never crossing the line to hurt women and children, and essentially family members in their violent public spat. As for the cops led by Marie Goldman (Marina Fois), she's eager to look for an opening to avenge her husband's killing, yet bounded by duty to know that she has to keep personal and business separate. What more, it's to the police's advantage that the mob is killing one another, and thus warned to keep an arm's length at the explosive gangland war. In a strange parallel between those finding on opposite sides of the fence, it's all about doing a job, and then going home to family at the end of the day.

Directed by Richard Berry who also had a small role in the film, 22 Bullets is unflinching in its violence, and the mowing down of Charly Mattei early in the film somehow is reminiscent of other massacres such as that of Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, or Murphy in Paul Verhoeven's Robocop. Don't expect Mattei to be dishing out revenge with creativity though, as his is a simple dispatch involving a signature one shot to the head, and one to the heart, two critical areas to ensure the grim reaper comes calling. There are the occasional lapses into monologues, although it does play up the fear factor here when he carries out the threat of striking when his enemies least expect him to.

Jean Reno as usual excels in this role, and you'll find yourself rooting for his character despite his flaws and what his character actually was in the past. As Zacchia puts it succinctly, a wrong is a wrong no matter what layer of morality gets draped over it. Kad Merad's Zacchia too puts in a moment of brilliance when he delivered a hypocritical speech about the value of close friendships, while his demeanour behind closed doors is anything but, lying to the masses without a flinch.

22 Bullets is a straightforward thriller that worked without too much surprises, but its slick delivery more than makes up for any of its shortcomings.