Instinto Assassino

O primeiro filme salta demasiado entre os acontecimentos. Muitos deles, que primeiro apresenta como importantes para o arco dramático da história, acaba por concluir brevemente com algumas palavras e segue em frente. O espetador não tem assim oportunidade de se aproximar dos personagens, ou de um personagem que está constantemente no ecrã e cujo entendimento era suposto ser fundamental para o filme. Ou será que se tratava apenas de criar uma entrada de primeira qualidade artesanal para o segundo filme mais completo? (01/07/2009)

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)

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)

This film beautifully blends crime thriller, gangster saga and personality study. It is a gem in the genre, with a perfect ensemble cast, an incredible recreation of 1970's France, instinctive and very realistically rendered action, which by the way realistic, and Jean-François Richet's direction is very precise, under control, you feel he knows what he wants when you watch it. This is another film that absolutely and unexpectedly blew me away. Jacques Mesrine really did kill several people in the 60-70's, robbed banks, escaped from prison several times and basically did all the things that, every legendary criminal aspires to do. I recommend it! (06/06/2014)

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)