movie review by brandon, the movie nerd! mesrine: public enemy no.1

***1/2 out *****

The second Mesrine film is a step down from the original. The first one crammed about 10-12 years into two hours, this once only has to cram about 6 or 7, but still manages to feel slow and chuggy.

Mesrine, fresh from his criminal adventures in Canada, has returned to France and begun robbing banks with gusto. Although, if you're looking for action, you're in the wrong place. We see maybe one bank robbery in this one. Mesrine's ego has grown with his legend, and he now thinks of himself as someone who robs from the rich and gives to himself. It's like crossing Gordon Gekko with Robin Hood. He sees himself as a revolutionary, bringing down the French establishment.

But the French establishment has something for him…bullets! Hey, it worked for Bonnie and Clyde… This film is filled with more French character actors (well, that I recognized anyway). Samuel LiBehan (Brotherhood of the Wolf, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not), Mathieu Almaric (Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Quantum of Solace) and Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool, Paris, je t'aime) all show up at varying times as partners of Mesrine. There's also a cameo by Georges Wilson, who I don't particularly know, but is a big deal in France I'm told. They're not given a whole lot to do, though, and tend to disappear unceremoniously when the movie is through with them.

We never really delve into Mesrine's ego, just see him flaunt it (although there is an interesting scene where a real revolutionary shoots down his fight-the-power dreams). There's also a fun scene where Wilson manages to beat Mesrine at his own game. Cassell is still great, and carries the movie almost single-handedly, but here Mesrine is static. He's still charming and psychotic, but he's not as interesting.

The protracted climax basically replays the entire opening credits of the first film. It's a bad choice…they could've built some real suspense here, but it's deadened by us already knowing what the end result is. We also don't get much in the way of the controversy surrounding the French police ruthlessly gunning Mesrine down in broad daylight (no, I'm not giving away the end…we know this happens from the credits of the first film). It also more unfocused, sometimes making Mesrine the focal point, sometimes focusing on the cops hunting him. But there's never a sense of the cat-and-mouse game between the two.

It doesn't ruin the first one, and it's not a bad movie, but like Soderbergh's Che, the second half doesn't quite equal up to the first. Still, I'd recommend seeing Mesrine's saga.