The film starts with Jean Reno (character name: Charly), retired mafia-esque bad guy, visiting his mother with his small son in tow. On their way home to Marseille, they sing along to opera arias and the little boy is let out of the car to watch a street performance (featuring a dancing goat) while daddy drives off to find a parking space. It's a good thing the boy was not in the car, as it turns out. As he exits the car, a group of heavily armed (rival?) gangsters stop their vehicle in front of him, unloading their collected gun into him. Charly breaks down, bleeding, his body riddled with 22 bullets (hence, the English title). Miraculously, he survives (hence, the French title). This, of course, requires revenge.
Before Charly goes on his killing spree, however, he loses one close associate, which is what really tips the scale. Shortly after the funeral, Charly walks into a birthday celebration of the murderous group and announces that he will come for them. But instead of killing them all then and there, he promises to come for them one by one, when they least expect it. He is there to kill the birthday boy, only. His plan and announcement to spread the revenge out makes for a better premise for the film. Without it, there might not even be a film.
And then the violence commences. There are shootouts, assassination attempts, betrayal, car and motorcycle chases, hiding family members and the desperate police force trying to solve the initial attack on Charly as well as figuring out what the hell else is going on.
And to not belie the title, Charly survives again and again situations that would have killed off a lesser man.
Works for me.
6/10
