Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1

Finally, the 3 week wait is over. Even if you haven't seen Mesrine: Killer Instinct, the second part works as a stand alone piece - although various nuances will obviously be missed. Everyone else though will find themselves just as thrilled as they were by part 1, while also following Mesrine's descent into middle-age spread and self-aggrandizement. He's no longer the lean, mean machine of the first part - he's carrying extra weight and his love of publicity continually drives away his collaborators.
He's the lead actor in his own world and at one point is aghast at being pushed off the front page by Pinochet's coup. He might blithely align himself with the PLO or Baader-Meinhof, but he doesn't fool anyone. A wealthy kidnap victim mocks the fact that he's being held for ransom rather than being killed, and a huge gulf clearly exists between Mesrine and the genuinely radical Charlie. However much Mesrine wants to bring down the system, it's very much a forlorn hope. Great for PR but guaranteed to antagonize accomplices. Mathieu Amalric's Francois Besse looks increasingly perturbed every time Mesrine opens his mouth, never mind giving interviews to the press. Superficially they should be a brilliant match: both career criminals and both renowned escape artists. This gives rise to one of the highlights of the film - another brilliantly staged prison break, so boldly carried out that everyone else seems paralysed by its daring. This is followed by a botched holdup in Deauville and the contrasting reactions of Besse and Mesrine during the subsequent escape emphasise the differences that will ultimately drive them apart. Besse is worried, twitchy, appalled at the loss of any money (especially when Mesrine gives some away); Mesrine is calm, charming yet menacing, and ultimately seems to think it's all (even losing some of loot) a great joke.
As in Killer Instinct, Mesrine's likeability is undercut by constant reminders of his propensity for violence, as in the kidnapping of the elderly landlord or the torture and attempted murder of a rightwing journalist who had dared to criticise him. Yet, the end (or the beginning if you remember part 1) is a chilling reminder that the state is equally capable of brutal violence. The events are replayed but this time from the POV of the police - that inocuous van doesn't seem so harmless any more - and the tension increases despite the outcome being known. This time we see the execution in all its bloody detail, and make no mistake, it IS an execution. All Mesrine's goading and arrogance finally gets its comeuppance: a perfect example of "those who live by the sword, die by the sword".