Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Jacques Mesrine may not be a household name to many people outside France, but in his homeland he was a notorious gangster with a reputed 40 killings to his name. Mesrine: Killer Instinct is the first of a two part biopic of the gangster from director Jean-Francois Richet, and though it may play hard and fast with the truth, what it creates is a hard and fast punchy thriller. As with all film biopics, there is not enough time to cover the back story. Therefore the film begins with brief allusions (orders to kill as a soldier, his Dad being a collaborator) as to why Mesrine would become such an angry violent man. After that we are on a roller coaster ride as Mesrine’s life of crime starts big and just gets bigger. Mesrine exudes the classic paradoxical criminal code and Richet does not hide from showing us Mesrine’s penchant for violence against people he perceives have done him wrong. Vincent Cassel is on great form as Mesrine and there are fine supporting performances all round as well, especially from Roy Dupuis. Supporting performances being the operative words as well, as this film firmly focuses on Mesrine. We move from one crime to another, one city to another, and one lover to another lover in the blink of an eye with Mesrine dragging us along for the journey. Towards the end of the film things settle down with Mesrine’s incarceration in a Canadian jail, with Richet’s direction to the fore with his excellently framed scenes of Mereine’s solitary confidment. However, this leads to a nail-biting prison escape, later followed by an outrageous attack on the same edifice as Mesrine attempts to break out his fellow inmates. Any morally ambiguous respect you may have for such a brazen act is quickly dissipated due to one final act of brutal violence in the final scene of the film. That the film ends here, just as it’s got its firm grip on you, come as a disappointment. For a film that’s almost two hours long, that’s high praise indeed.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Cassel provides a strong turn in this well directed film, with a superb final third. Here’s to Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1 continuing with the same entertainment. Rating: 7/10.