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Many famous actors have roles they are known for but few performers have a part define their careers (at least in the English speaking world) as much as Jean Reno. For all his sterling work in Nikita, The Big Blue and Ronin, it’s his 1994 hitman classic Leon that people remember, an extraordinary performance in a film that defied the conventions of your typical guns and glory action flick.

The word Leon has been mentioned in comparison to 22 Bullets. Here’s how it’s similar:

• It’s got Jean Reno in it.
• There are guns.
• Jean Reno’s role is the moral centre, even though he’s a flawed character
• Both are very much European films, even if Leon is set in New York.
• There’s revenge and things.

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Aside from that, it’s a very different film. 22 Bullets deals with a man at the top of the criminal tree, not a bottom feeder like Leon. In 22 Bullets, Reno plays a man until recently completely in control of his destiny. Leon, by contrast is a man beholden to a corrupt hood who gives him pennies and trinkets in return for risking his life. Leon is illiterate and an illegal immigrant and thus unable to find a way out of his mess, 22 Bullets has a lead character who is a capable leader of men.22 Bullets sees Reno seeking revenge for a life lived then snatched away. Leon never had a life to speak of until he sees a small spark of possibility with Natilie Portman’s character, lets his mask slip and seeks to protect her.

Don’t expect to see a retread of Leon when you buy 22 Bullets, expect a riot of back stabbing, back peddling crooks trying to avoid being sprayed with hot metal vengeance when Reno comes to hunt them down. In Leon, Reno skirted the edges of organized crime, taking out the trash but never being given entrance the club. In 22 Bullets, he is the club until he’s betrayed and all hell breaks loose…