Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008)

This is definitely entertaining and a command performance by Vincent Cassel. It took me awhile to get into it – for part I that is. The story is more or less straight-forward. It's about a thug who robs banks, intimidates his adversaries- sometimes brutally and escapes from prison any which way he can. It kind of resembles Scarface, but it is certainly not like the Godfather (I and II). It lacks subtlety (that's what I mean by straight-forward) and most of the characters who partner with Mesrine are more or less interchangeable and don't add much to the story. It's Mesrine and the action that drives this film. When it tries to get too serious; as with his wife, and many girlfriends, and the pseudo- revolutionary conversations, the film starts to sputter and wither – until the next action scene.

Most reviewers describe this movie as a "thriller" or "rise and fall" story, but how can a movie be described as such if there is no tangible plot or no rise and fall. I do not personally consider it a "rise" if the character's name is featured in some newspapers or a "fall" if the character is shot down down in a hail of bullets. This film is merely a look at the physical life of a criminal who got lucky. In reviewing this film I must go through both films as if they are one. So technically I will be reviewing a five-hour film. I will go into detail of the film. The film starts out with showing the main character, Mesrine, seemingly stalking a nervouse female. They then get into a car together and hit the road. Jacques lets a large blue truck get in front of him. They stop at a red light. The light turns green and then the back of the truck flies open with men aiming their guns at Mesrine. Title sequence. This scene is one of the best in the film. It is shot in the style of De Palma film with the meaningless splitscreen and suspense. After this, we get look at him as a young man in the Algierian army who is ordered to shoot a suspects wife, instead he shoots the suspect himself. Now this scene sets up the style of the movie: shaky-cam and in your face bloodshed. The rest of the movie (Part 1&2) can only be described in individual scenes. One great scene is where he meets his new partner, a bespectacled woman whose name escapes me, and immediately afterward they rob a mob-owned restaurant. The way this scene was almost unintentionally funny with the following exchange taking place: Woman: Leave him alone, he's mine. Jacques: Well it depends... Woman: On what? Jacques: Are you ready for anything? (well it went something like that.) After that exchange, they go rob a restaurant. Then we have the prison scene. This shows Mesrine at his absolute worse, where he cries, drools and begs for mercy. Of course he escapes and then comes back to save some friends. Then we get a shootout. End of part 1 The next part is basically a continuation of the last one and so this one only has few major scenes including his father dying and him escaping prison once more. Finally he dies. End of movie. The movie itself is merely competent. But it rides along in a steady pace and has great editing and directing from the director. And of course I have to mention Vincent Cassel's performance, which is great. Though, I must warn, the second half is kind of boring. End of review.

Both Killer Instinct (Part I) and Public Enemy No. 1 (Part II) seem to be intended as action films; you see them to be entertained rather than to find meaning. Despite this, Killer Instinct still managed to maintain a somewhat believable tone that this part quickly lost.The music throughout is painfully generic and overblown. In the final scene, action music races while Mesrine and his girlfriend are walking on the sidewalk and then stuck in traffic for a solid five minutes. Elsewhere generic action scores grow tiresome as the violence also grows repetitive.A number of characters overact in Public Enemy No. 1, particularly the policemen in the last scene. It seems the director tried to force an extra ten minutes in of showing Mesrine inconsequentially strolling around, which the viewer knows won't lead to anything as we've already been shown the conclusion to this scene, while the police watching him panic and pant. I found Vincent Cassel's acting to be much better in part one than part two as well, not to say it was particularly exceptional in Killer Instinct in the first place. He fell into some of the overacting utilized by some of the more minor actors. He was better in La Haine. Mathieu Almaric and Ludivine Sagnier were better.The writing in this film becomes overindulgent of Mesrine's self justifications. One would think that his rantings aren't meant to be taken seriously but for the fact that they are played up as dramatic monologues in scenes such as the interview. If this was intended to come off as misguided self-righteousness rather than a serious social critique, the director failed to convey that.On a basic level Public Enemy No. 1 was also much less exciting than the first. As far as part II's plot goes, Mesrine is pretty much riding out the hype that he built up in part I. The action sequences are fewer in number and on a smaller scale.Overall, it did the job in that it was mildly entertaining. Despite this, the action of this half of the story line wasn't as much so as in Killer Instinct, and as a result the director seems to have used cheap techniques such as an overblown music score and overacting to compensate.

I loved Killer Instinct, the best film I've seen in 2010, perhaps in the last few years. Vincent Cassel is stupendous at Jacques Mesrine, a brutal and bold bank robber with an ego that would intimidate Sigmund Freud. In Public Enemy, Mesrine's ego continues its meteoric growth, but his character development stagnates. And that's what makes Part 2 not as good as Part 1.Part 2 is simply entertainment for those who enjoyed Mesrine's bravado in Killer Instinct. Bold escapes and robberies, shoot em ups, etc. But without any character growth--and a pseudo- revolutionary mindset does not ring authentic--you come away thinking that you've seen this before and done better in Part 1. In fact, with a little thought, parts 1 & 2 could have been merged to make one heckuva movie at a longer than average length. But it's still worth watching and, in fact, worth purchasing. Go Vincent Cassel.