L'Instinct de mort

L'unité sa précipite trop rapidement entre les événements. Beaucoup d'entre eux, qu'elle présente d'abord comme importants pour l'arc dramatique de l'histoire, se terminent finalement brièvement avec quelques mots et continuent. Le spectateur n'a donc pas la possibilité de se rapprocher des personnages, ou plutôt du personnage qui est constamment à l'écran et dont la compréhension aurait dû être la clé du film. Ou s'agissait-il vraiment seulement d'une introduction minutieuse et nécessaire pour une suite plus complète et réussie ? (01/07/2009)

France has given us almost the best that it can currently offer from its movie storeroom (perhaps only Daniel Auteil is missing). “Part one" was dynamic, stylish, raw, and absolutely riveting in its austere brevity. Part two is also raw, but except for the opening escapades, it is calmer, more compact, and the atmosphere has your nerves stretched to the extreme most of the time, but it is also more descriptive (but not literal). Together, they are two joined vessels forming one perfect four-hour whole, which in my eyes has become the new quality benchmark for evaluating crime sagas. ♫ OST score: 5/5 (29/01/2009)

Mesrine: Killer Instinct suffers from one major flaw, and that is its duration. Paradoxically, it is not because the film is too long, but rather because the problem lies in its brevity and the attempt to fit as many twists and turns into the smallest space possible, which means that some crucial connections are lost and supporting characters are often reduced to mere props. If I compare it to Scarface, which had a staggering 170 minutes, here the problem is exactly the opposite - the film should have been at least half an hour longer. And yet, compared to Brian De Palma's classic, Mesrine: Killer Instinct is a very modern film, dynamic and, despite all its action, believable and fully realistic. It deserves a very decent four stars. It is all the more surprising to me that the director's chair was occupied by the relatively inexperienced Jean-François Richet, whose bland and uninspiring Assault on Precinct 13 did not appeal to me at all. From an acting perspective, this ambitious project features the best among current French film stars, and they deliver consistently good performances. Very good camera work and editing. Overall impression: 85%. (25/11/2009)

On the one hand, I should be glad that the screenwriters decided not to humanize and color Mesrine's character, but to show him (apparently) as he was. But on the other hand, here's my problem with watching movies with a downright negative main character. Which Mesrine is. Mesrine: Killer Instinct is well made, Vincent Cassel really rocks in the lead role and watching Gérard Depardieu enjoy his supporting role was a real treat... It's a pity because the patchwork script seemed confused and although it was full of characters, none of them really grew on me (I'm thinking especially of the companion Mercier, who reminded me of Eli Wallach). Except for one scene on the stairs, Mesrine's personal life was pretty much a waste of time. I can imagine that Mesrine wrote the book on which the film was based in this way. It's just that in the book he seems to be acting as the narrator and most likely ties all these little episodes together. Nothing like that here. The last stumbling block is the division of the film into two parts. If the creators decided to do so, they should have at least made this first one feel like a closed whole. Not to end it with a bland "finale" and a cheap "Hurry, hurry, play the second part" wink at the viewer. Three stars and a bit. (02/07/2011)

An amazing French creation. Fresh, incisive and precise in craft. Never mind that we don't really get to know the characters due to the stilted script. Vince Cassel is riveting whenever he's on screen, the action is top-notch, and this whole story about the French Public Enemy #1 is told with the refinement of the best that France has given to cinema – gritty old crime dramas. (18/10/2015)