Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Directed by:
Robert RodriguezScreenplay:
Robert RodriguezCinematography:
Robert RodriguezComposer:
Robert RodriguezCast:
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Rubén Blades, Willem Dafoe (more)VOD (4)
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Another sprawling South American action-adventure from Mexican director Roberto Rodriguez. Rogue CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) finds himself having to recruit the services of the legendary vigilante El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) in order to prevent an assassination attempt on the Mexican president. Although Mariachi has been in hiding since the death of his lover (Salma Hayek), Sands manages to persuade him to help as they will be fighting a common enemy: General Marquez (Gerardo Vigil), who is leading the assassination attempt and with whom Mariachi has a score to settle. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (7)
This is like Rodriguez filmed a much longer picture, but used just half of it and also arranged it in an order that has no head or tail to it. As a result, scenes that were evidently supposed to be a tribute to or “quote" from Leone turn come across like they are making fun of him and are incredibly embarrassing. Better to watch Desperado for the umpteenth time, rather than this.
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Maybe if the production hadn't been so lazy and the movie had come out in the nineties, the reception would have been much warmer. This way, people's tastes have changed quite a bit and the jokes that used to work weren't as good anymore. Still, it's worth returning to this ride occasionally because the pace is still good, and the cast is extremely attractive even today.
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The sequel does not reach the quality of Desperado. The action is even more daring and the plot is even more convoluted, not to mention the large number of characters that will just confuse the viewers. The clutter of sets and costumes can be tolerated, but Rodriguez's effort to be very cool started to annoy me. Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek are a pleasure to watch. Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas are also okay. The rest is just average and routine work.
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico is even cooler and more stylish than Desperado, but with a needlessly overwrought and hectic story in which there is no time for the most important thing, which is thorough development of the characters who are the foundation of the film. The whole time is spent with someone arguing with someone else in secret or shooting at somebody. Robert Rodriguez tried to cram three hours of material into eighty minutes and the result is a rushed and at times unintentionally torpid mishmash that’s more suitable for fans of Spy Kids than Desperado fans.
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Yeah, it's fun. Robert Rodriguez goes of the rails quite a bit and even though he gets really wild in places, it surprisingly works thanks to the the stars, of which there are more than a few. Johnny Depp is terrific along with Antonio Banderas, the rest are slightly overshadowed, but it's a nice watch thanks to the occasional slapstick and over the top action. 65%
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