Fans of the Luc Besson (Taken) thriller Leon (aka The Professional); the film about a hitman named Leon (played by Godzilla’s Jean Reno) who develops a relationship with a young girl (played by a 13-year-old Natalie Portman; of the Star Wars prequel trilogy) after saving her from death by the hands of corrupt detectives; will be thrilled to learn that Leon himself (Reno) is stepping back into the action genre in a new movie titled 22 Bullets.
22 Bullets (which is also known as The Immortal) is a film by writer/director Richard Berry (If I Were a Rich Man) about the life, and near death, of The Immortal; Marseille mafiosi Jacques Imbert; a man who decides to exact his revenge, after falling victim to a botched assassination attempt.
Jean Reno is playing Charly Matteï; the lead character who begins the film as a retired gangster turned dedicated family man, but ends up with 22 bullets inside him, after his past catches up with him, and masked gangsters try to brutally murder him, before he wakes from his coma, and decides to go on a vengeful killing spree.
Sounding like a cross between Leon, Taken, and Payback, 22 Bullets promises to be one French film that’s really worth looking out for (especially seen as how this is one true story that’s genuinely interesting; in a slightly different way to 127 Hours; and not completely different to the French gangster flick Mesrine), when it hits cinemas on September 3rd.
For all those readers intrigued by the prospect of seeing Leon back in action, a clip of the film (which was first released via Empire Magazine, and shows the assassination attempt) can be seen below, as can the movie’s teaser trailer (complete with English subtitles).
