22 Bullets

I've been a fan of Jean Reno since I saw him in Leon about 16 years ago and generally enjoy his performances even when the films are no good or are just badly made. He is a terrific action star with a physique that unlike the traditional 1980s/'90s musclebound star in the vein of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis and is more akin to the action starts from the 1960s and '70s who were strong rather than muscular and appear violent (think Robert Mitchum).

Jean Reno's latest film is 22 Bullets (the French title is L'immortel) and begins with his character, Charly Matteï, driving his son and dog to the festival in the town and quite happily listening to some Pavarotti. After dropping his son off to go on park the car, Charly goes into an underground car park where he is ambushed by a van full of gunmen who riddle him with bullets, shoot the dog and then drive off, leaving Charly for dead.

Fortunately for Charly and unfortunately for the gunmen, the emergency services arrive in time and get him to hospital where 22 bullets are removed from his body and, apart from some nerve damage to his right arm, Charly makes a full recovery. He is extremely angry about his right arm which he can no longer move properly and has limited or no sensation throughout the limb, illustrating his point to the doctor by jamming a fork into his hand.

You learn that Charly is a former criminal kingpin in Marseille who is now retired, having left his criminal empire to childhood friend Tony Zacchia, and considers himself 'out of the game'. This unprovoked attack draws him back into the violent world he had left behind and, before the authorities know what to do, there is all-out gangland warfare in the southern industrial city whilst Charly wipes out Zacchia's gang in order to get to the main man. The main problem for the police is that Charly is an extremely clever criminal who leaves no clues and, when one of his enemies ends up dead, he has an alibi and there is also the small matter of whether he is physically capable of committing the crime given his physical limitations.


With a wife and two children, Charly needs to be careful to keep them out of the crossfire whilst trying to settle old scores and work out who he can trust. The detective in charge of the case, Marie Goldman, has a personal interest because her husband was killed a gangster, probably one of Zacchia's mob and whose private life is now in a state of turmoil as she is a functioning drunk who is addicted to slot machines. However, she soon realises that the case is way beyond her and the only person who can bring the violence to an end is Charly. He isn't exactly on his own as the other member of the group of childhood friends who swore 'friendship until after death', is still friends with both men and acts as Charly's lawyer and confidant.

The film is based on the novel L'immortel by Franz-Olivier Giesbert which tells the tale of the real shooting of Jacky Le Mat (a.k.a. Jacky Imbert) a French mobster who, in 1977, was shot 22 times and left for dead. There are several clichés in the film starting with the retired gangster who was lured out of his peaceful life, a gangster out for revenge against those who betrayed him, a detective who has a personal involvement in the case and so on.


Despite these clichés and the rather tired plot, 22 Bullets is an extremely enjoyable and engrossing film in which Jean Reno basically reprises his role from Leon/Nikita as 'The Professional' -- a man who knows exactly which weapons to use and when, is a deadly shot but has a 'no women or children' motto. This latter aspect can probably be seen as an homage to the "no women, no kids" rule from Leon rather than a rip-off by writer/director/actor Richard Berry. Berry has made his living as an actor until recently and this is his fifth film as a director and one where he shows real promise and skill behind the camera.

The key to the movie is really Jean Reno whose presence and charisma carries you through and Charly is such a great anti-hero that you spend the entire film rooting for him no matter what he does, who he kills and how. Charly is clearly an unpleasant man given what he can do to other human beings but, in that 'hooker with a heart of gold' way, he has a soft side which he displays with his wife and children. Furthermore, because the other gangsters are so relentless and easy to dislike, that leaves you with a choice of Charly or Detective Goldman but, as they really want the same thing (peace in Marseille) you want Charly to stay out of the police's clutches and come out unscathed at the end.

Although films with myriad writers rarely succeed, this is atypical as there are no fewer than five people involved in the writing process from Franz-Olivier Giesbert to Richard Berry who took the adaptation on which he worked to write the screenplay by himself and that is probably why the film feels so coherent -- it is Berry's film and he was involved from the book adaptation to the screenplay and direction. He also stars in the film and doesn't do a bad job in front of the camera either.


The Disc

Extra Features
All of the extra features are in French with optional English subtitles and I wish that more distributors would trust the audience and port over bonus features from the native release and subtitle them.

22 Bullets in Marseille (5:25) features footage from a press conference preceding the premiere, interviews with the principle members of the cast and crew but with most of the material coming from press releases and introductions to preview screenings.

The Making Of (25:43) begins with the origins of the story is much more formal than the previous piece and consists of structured interviews with Richard Berry and Jean Reno while showing some behind the scenes footage and B-roll material. It is a very well constructed piece which shows how Berry works on set so you really get a sense of Berry is a director and how certain scenes were constructed and characters were developed.

Interviews takes you to a submenu where you can select Richard Berry or Jean Reno. The interview with Richard Berry (9:27) is one of those EPK pieces but is still an interesting piece because Berry is an enthusiastic and lively speaker who answers each question fully and with passion. The Jean Reno interview (7:54) is similarly well delivered by an actor who has done his fair share of press interviews but shows no sign of been jaded and seems quite keen to answer each question fully.

The disc also contains the original trailer and the theatrical trailer which differ as the original trailer is comprised of clips from the film which is edited very well whereas the theatrical trailer is the one for the theatrical release in the US and UK and is clips from the film with 'Voiceover Man' giving a suitably cliché-ridden voiceover.


The Picture
Considering this was only the DVD and not the Blu-ray, which is released on the same day, the picture quality is very good. Edges are sharp, colours are vibrant and blacks are inky. That being said, the IMDb says that the film should be in 2.35:1 and the original trailer certainly bears this out so it appears that the film has been cut to 1.78:1 for some inexplicable reason. There aren't any major problems with the composition despite this aspect ratio change but it is extremely puzzling as to why the film isn't presented in its original aspect ratio.

When it comes to the SFX make-up and squibs, the shooting scenes are extremely well, if you pardon the pun, executed and look as if they really hurt which, in the case of Jean Reno, who had 21 squibs placed about his body, ended up with bruising all over.

There are several car and motorcycle stunt that are very well orchestrated and have clearly been meticulously planned, especially when it comes to scenes involving stunt driving and shootouts.


The Sound
The only soundtrack available is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround French track which has terrific separation and uses the directional sound to tremendous effect when there is a shootout or car chase as the front and rear surrounds really come to life, placing you in the heart of the action.

Klaus Badelt, who has scored such big budget nonsense as Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl, Ultraviolet and Catwoman, does a very good job with the music on this one showing he can work with the good as well as the bad (and downright abysmal).

The English subtitles are clear, easy to read and error free so following the film is the proverbial piece of cake.


Final Thoughts
When 22 Bullets became available I didn't know whether to expect something as brilliant as Leon or as ordinary as Armored. This is neither but is closer to the Luc Besson film than Nimród Antal's rather stupid and overblown action thriller with Jean Reno taken off auto pilot and on top form as the gangster on a mission.

The film may be hackneyed and full of cliché but it is still an engrossing watch and the AV quality and fairly exhaustive extras make this at least worth a rental, whether on Blu-ray or DVD, just check the aspect ratio is correct first.