Review of Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008) by Richard R — 31 Aug 2009

The second film doesn't disappoint.

The production values of the film are quite good despite the 'independent' (of Hollywood) nature of the movie.

Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene in Quantum of Solace) still makes me think his eyeballs are going to pop out of their socket in every scene and the older looking Mesrine has more of a fat, aging Peter Sutcliffe in Broadmoor look. Vincent Cassel does a great job portraying Mesrine as he gets older in the 1970s and ever more infamous Mesrine gets more evil.

Look out for historic Citroen cars of the period and relive how crap they really were. Anything that British Leyland could do, Citroen could do a lot worse!

I didnt know anything about this guy before seeing these films but what it does show is how crap the French police are. I mean at the roadblock set up to catch on the run Mesrine every vehicle is stopped and the boot searched. The car that Mesrine happens to be hidden in is somehow allowed straight through!

Towards the end I lost any sympathy I had left for Mesrine. From a 'misunderstood', 1970s Robin Hood he became a twisted Palestinian/Baader Meinhoff sympathiser who believed his own noteriety as Public Enemy Number One in France and he really does deserve the 300 bullets through his body at the end!