Violent and brash, as befits its subject , France’s media-baiting criminal Jacques Mesrine, Mesrine: Killer Instinct is the first part of Jean-François Richet’s two-feature bio-pic about the bank robber who electrified the public with his daring prison breaks. The provocative opening finds Mesrine, as a young soldier in the Algerian War, being ordered to participate in the torture of Arab rebels. The suggestion is that this boy from a nice petit bourgeois family had his soul hardened, if not shattered, by his war experience. Back home in Paris, “Jacky” assists a buddy in relieving home owners of the valuables they’ve hidden from the tax man. Jacques becomes the protégé of local kingpin Guido. The mysterious Guido’s criminal exploits fund the activities of a right-wing extremist group.

The film spotlights the influence on Mesrine of three very different women. Prostitute Sarah bolsters his confidence while he’s hitting his macho stride. Sofia, a nice Spanish girl whom he knocks up and marries, brings out his tenderness. Finally, the glamorous Jeanne materializes as Bonnie to Mesrine’s Clyde. After the couple cross the mob by robbing casinos, they relocate to Quebec and hold a millionaire for ransom. They’re captured on a dusty highway in the American West. Part one ends in 1972, before he returns to France, commits crimes of increasing audacity, and pens the autobiography upon which the screenplay is based.

The Mesrine story is a dream project for Vincent Cassel. The 43-year-old actor brings energy and agility to the young Jacques, and an ability to transition from charm to menace in a flash. He’s compelling in Killer Instinct, and it’ll be fun to see what he does with the middle-aged Mesrine in Public Enemy No. 1.