Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. The films never lose sight of Mesrine the man, a fascinating character in that he's brutal yet extremely intelligent, has a skewed but discernible conscience, and, under the right circumstances, can be warm and generous.
  2. Reviewed by: Mark Jenkins
  4. 88
  5. 83
    Public Enemy openly raises the question of why officers of the law hated Mesrine so much that they were willing to turn his death into a block party.
  6. Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    An instant gangster classic.
  7. Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    Jan 19, 2011
  8. 75
  9. Deftly filmed and directed by Jean-François Richet.
  10. 75
    Although Killer Instinct is the better of the two parts, Public Enemy No. 1 is a worthy continuation, providing closure to a tale that was interrupted just as things were getting really interesting.
  11. Director Jean-Francois Richet shows a career in crime with pulse-pounding moments of pure cinema, then lets you decide what to make of this homicidal sociopath.
  12. 70
    Performs the unlikely trick of being both taut and plotless.
  13. 70
    Vincent Cassel sets a new standard for Gallic cool as the title character.
  14. 65
  15. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    By the end, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 has turned nearly as flabby as its aging antihero.
  16. Simply skip the first part entirely: "Killer Instinct" bulges with a disconnected jumble of nightclub attacks and fence-clipping escapes you've seen better elsewhere. Yet a tide change happens with the superior Public Enemy No. 1, which takes the subject's raging ego as its cue.
  17. 50
    Mesrine's promised end in November 1979 arrives as history recorded it, but, by that time, you're hoping the next vogue in biopics is the short film.
  18. The second film, in particular, grows tediously episodic, and the exploits become a blur. What never blurs is Mr. Cassel's presence. We're told that he bulked up for the part-though Mesrine was many things, lithe wasn't one of them-but it's his phenomenal zest for his checkered character that fills the screen.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Jan 24, 2013
    Full Review »
  2. Sep 8, 2010