Review: 22 Bullets (L'immortel)
Description
Charly Mattei has turned a new leaf on his past as an outlaw. For the past three years he's been living a comfortable life and devoting himself to his wife and two kids. However, one winter morning, he's left for dead in the underground parking garage of Marseille's Old Port with 22 bullets in his body. Against all odds, he will not die.
Review
Gotta say, I really like Jean Reno as an actor, the guy has this certain charm about him that makes me enjoy him in anything he does and it's a shame that he doesn't get more major leading roles in North America. I was browsing at my local Blu Ray joint and saw a copy of 22 Bullets for $6. Being a casual fan of Reno and being a movie I hadn't heard of before it peaked my interest and I snagged it up pretty quickly.
Now Reno is getting up there a bit in age so it's not the sort of action that we're used to. He plays the typical Jean Reno character (himself?!) with a more hitman style action setting with a few solid fight scenes thrown in and less balls out run and gun style. Pretty solid car / bike chase scene in there too...The rest of the cast were pretty good, hadn't heard of any of them before. I'm sure they're better known in French cinema.
This movie is a solid mob thriller, what appears to be a pretty clear cut character breakdown at the beginning blurs the lines as the movie goes on and ends up with a few solid twists. That being said, the movie is full of cliches that we've all seen before. The ending is fitting for the running theme of the movie and doesn't really create the type of shock value they were going for as it's a bit predictable.
The Blu Ray was excellent, the Marseille scenery was stunning at times and the movie looked excellent. Biggest gripe would probably be the subtitles. I speak a little French, but not at the rate/speed they were speaking. I did know enough to know that the subtitles were way off from what was being said in parts, which is a shame as I'm sure the dialogue accurately translated would have added quite a bit to the movie.
Overall, I'm glad I bought it. Enjoyed it, probably not Reno's best foreign movie (Wasabi might hold that title)....While not completely original or anything groundbreaking, it was a solid action/drama that's worth seeing and I'm glad I picked it up.
6/10
Chillin'
Nice Post Netflix does'nt have it yet but when they do I will rent it.