Mesrine: Part 2: Public Enemy Number 1 (2008)

aka Mesrine: L'ennemi Public № 1 / Public Enemy Number One (Part Two) / Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One

Part 2 covers the years 1973-79, taking us back to the beginning of Part 1. Having notched up an impressive number of bank robberies and jail breaks over the years and embarrassing the judicial system many times over, Mesrine is elevated to their most-wanted. As such, there's an increased police presence this time, even going so far as to give the titular gangster a kind of nemesis by the name of Broussard (Olivier Gourmet).
Cassel's portrayal of Mesrine is still excellent. He's overweight, toying with misdirection, enjoying his notoriety and attempting to use it as a tool in his personal vendetta against the system that abused him.
It has a longer running time than Killer Instinct had, but it isn't as satisfying dramatically. The finale, however, is amazingly good.

3½ profile shots out of 5

Mesrine: Part 1: Killer Instinct (2008)

aka Mesrine: L'instinct de mort / Public Enemy Number One (Part One) / Mesrine: Part 1 - Death Instinct

The first part of a two-part biopic of the real-life French gangster Jacques Mesrine, played by Vincent Cassel in both films. The basic structure will be familiar to fans of gangster films, but the presentation is unusual, employing a number of different shooting styles and some clever use of split-screen effects, all in a very French manner. I was forced to concede that even techniques I dislike had a definite power to them.
Equally powerful is Cassel in the lead role. He's clever, sharp and utterly fearless. He's also charming when he wants to be, but a monster when pushed too far. The film begins in 1979, but jumps back to chart Mesrine's activities in the years 1959 to 1972. It's only part of the story, however, so make sure you have access to Part 2: Public Enemy Number 1 before you even begin.

4 off-the-books jobs out of 5

BLOOD FATHER [2016]

Director  Jean-François Richet's violent Mel Gibson thriller, Blood Father, plays like a Liam Neeson thriller, if Neeson weren't afraid to roll around in the dust 'n dirt.
Gibson plays a man, in search of some heavy redemption, who's forced to go back to his dastardly ways when his estranged teenage daughter shows up on his doorstep with some nasty sort of fellas hot on her trail.
Right from the get-go you know where this sort of film is heading but it's the clever little nuances that sets it apart from others of it's kind, like father & daughter just as foul-mouthed and dangerous as the other.  There's some pretty silly eye-rolling moments, plotholes galore and awkward dialogue but that's where Mel Gibson's real life unpredictable ferocity gives it that extra amount of savage B-movie tension.

3 topsy-turvy trailers out of 5

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Jean-François Richet’s remake of John Carpenter’s version (1976) of Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959) adds more guns in the hope that it’ll be enough to distract you from the fact that they removed the point of the previous entry entirely.
Ethan Hawke said it was the best action script he’d ever read; I think he needs a new agent. Without Laurence Fishburne I’d have tossed the shit-fest out the window long before the end.

1½ hours I wasted on this crap out of 5