Mesrine: Public Enemy #1

Even more of a mess than the first part. Mesrine's motivations are never truly revealed, and every 30 minutes there's a new lover and a new accomplice, which destroys any hope of consistency. The same cycle of robbery, shoot-out, chase and capture is repeated about 4 times - in other words the story is non-existent. Also, how many times do Mesrine or his pals get shot in the arm, leg or stomach before making a miraculous recovery? Feels like the longest, slowest action film I ever saw.

Being a biopic, this lived and died on its main character, and Cassel knocked it out of the park, playing Mesrine as a suave, charismatic badass, while still retaining the ruthlessness to make sure we always know he's a villain. The direction was also very good, making use of a bunch of different techniques yet having nothing seem out of place.

Part 1 was the classic mafia movie and now part 2 is more like an action move. But not the dumb kind since this one describes mostly the on-going fall of Mesrine due to his uncontrollable ego. Cassel is just as marvellous as in the first part. 14/07/09

More scrappy than the first. It has some scenes referencing the left wing upheaval occurring in Europe at the time. Strangely Mesrine acts under the PLO tag during a kidnapping despite an earlier scene showing him denouncing politics, more detail to his views would of helped. Also Involves a scene in which a blaspheming journalist is left under the guard of an armed companion for a minute or so. Turns out Mesrine spent that time lighting mood candles to backdrop the ultra-violence he envisioned.

A continuation on the story of Mesrine, same problems with the first half were present.

By the time you reach the second half of the biopic, it starts to get pretty repetitive. This is more action than gangster movie, and, while it developed the character of Mesrine more than the part 2, didn't seem to add much else.

Not as good as the first part, but still necessary to know the rest of the story.

Not as engaging as the first film.

The first one was good, this one is great. Some may prefer the humble beginning of the story, but for me, this second installment, in which Mesrine rises and falls, is the more enjoyable. Cassell is phenomenal again, and Mathieu Amalric is also excellent. A little less grim than the first, still very tense and overall a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

It's more of the same in this second part of the biopic. Lots of thrilling action and suspense with some fleeting glimpses into Mesrine's character. Cassel once again excels as Mesrine.

Incredible story direction and acting

Episodic and for a long stretch kinda redundant - think that Scarface montage with the tigers but with a groovier score and much more erotic dancing and also about 45 minutes of a 2 hour film. The good parts could probably have been stuck on to Part 1 and made a pretty sweet 3-hour film, but as two parts this half suffers more from needing to wait around before the ending can happen.

78.500

Must have the highest bullets fired to people killed ratio ever. I think they fire 3000 rounds of ammunition and amass a bodycount of 2

This sagged a bit for me after the pace of the first part. The breathing space should have allowed us to get under Mesrine's skin but I just didn't get Cassel's portrayal of him.

"According to this lofty mandate, the film shouldn't be judged as a historically meretricious account." - Simon Abrams

less engaging than the first film, just a weary plod through the exploits of Mesrine without actually taking you anywhere. Painting by numbers.

Excellent.

Part II means another 120 minutes of the life of Mesrine if you enjoyed the first one you will love that one too. Stunning !

I kind of liked the first part more than this. This movie has more action than the first one. Still a great movie, a must watch biopic duology.

Good Movie

cassel did a jawdropping good job in part 1, and here in part 2 he has much more meat to the now established character of mesrine and the story is much better as well as it zeroes in on a more specific time period in mesrine's life. great stuff.

As good as part one. Must see if you are into gangster movies.

Cracking conclusion to an almost unbelievable true story. Recommended

Pretty much the same as I felt about the first film. It's fine, well made, although it has its flaws - perhaps a bit too cyclical and episodic, and never really scratching too far below the surface. Cassel (who has an awesome face) is very watchable in the lead, though, and the two films are definitely worth watching.

More formulaic and less exciting than the first round of gangster violence.

More chaotic and action oriented than part 1. For me, it misses the epic that part 1 set up and goes for the popcorn flick. Still, it ties up a GREAT crime story.