The second chunk of the epic story of French gangster Jacques Mesrine is every bit as engrossing as the first movie.
Comment
08/29/09
Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1 (2009)
92
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:24
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Vincent Cassel is mesmerizing in the lead role, and even if it's less focused than its predecessor, it's more fun.
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Samuel Le Bihan
Director: Jean-Francois Richet
Reviews for Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1
Vincent Cassel as Mesrine, keeps the plodding plot alive by delivering great one-liners with devilish charm. But only if the best bits had been squeezed into one movie could Jacques have been a thrill.
08/29/09
Not only does it provide a breathlessly exciting concluding chapter, it deepens our understanding of Mesrine by providing some psychological complexity to counter the unapologetically celebratory first half.
08/29/09
Mesrine: Killer Instinct is an exceptional French thriller but the companion film Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1 is even better. The pace is just as dynamic, the performances are equally impressive.
08/29/09
Vincent Cassel fully commits himself to the role.
08/29/09
Vincent Cassel is superb in the lead, craggily handsome, steely and volatile.
08/29/09
The second [part] throws in heart-stoppingly exciting blasts of Bullit and Papillon.
07/31/09
Unlike its more lively predecessor, this is more interested in dissecting the criminal mindset.
08/29/09
You start to wonder if that personality is compelling enough to deserve such scrutiny... I’d have settled for a single film compiling the saga’s flashiest moments.
09/01/09
While Killer Instinct is certainly worth checking out, this is far more satisfying than its predecessor, working as a self-contained satire on crime, media and celebrity.
08/29/09
Click for full review
07/01/09
An instant gangster classic.
07/31/09
Director Jean-Francois Richet shows a career in crime with pulse-pounding moments of pure cinema, then lets you decide what to make of this homicidal sociopath.
07/31/09
Top CriticJean-François Richet has made two pictures that complement and build on each other with widescreen verve.
07/24/09
It’s a bouncier, more fun, less focussed film – still worth four stars, as the first chapter got, but slightly smaller ones perhaps.
08/29/09
Though never less than entertaining, Killer Instinct and Public Enemy can’t escape the shadow of the films they might have been. Both earn their place in the gangster canon. But not even Jacques Mesrine can escape the constraints of cinema.
08/29/09
Every bit as gripping as Mesrine: Killer Instinct, this is an extremely enjoyable, terrifically directed gangster thriller.
07/24/09
Tonally different to its predecessor but just as engrossing.
08/29/09
All the world loves an outlaw. But how cheaply is that love won if all his partners and opponents have been drafted in from Dullsville-sur-Seine?
08/29/09
A triumphant conclusion to Jean-François Richet's exciting and enjoyable two-part story.
08/29/09
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