film: review

> ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (2003)
El Mariachi returns...

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez

Written by: Robert Rodriguez

Genre: Thriller

Our Rating: 8.5/10

It’s been eight long years since Antonio Banderas last picked up his guitar case full of guns and kicked some ass. Banderas was made to play El Mariachi, and Zorro, as for the rest of his work…um, nah. So when director Robert Rodriguez (director, writer, editor, well ok, he did everything but star) announced he was going back to this series and taking a break from the kiddie movies (the highly profitable Spy Kids flicks) I was very happy. And wow, this is definitely not a family friendly film! Once Upon A Time In Mexico is a smorgasbord of over-the-top thrills, violence, and double-crosses, and I was loving the ride!

The plot is taken to the extreme as well. In Mexico, a crazy General is trying to overthrow El Presidente, while a CIA agent employs El Mariachi to kill the General, while a drug lord tries to kill El Mariachi, while a retired FBI agent tries to kill the drug lord that…well anyhow, there’s lots going on and plenty of back stabbing to boot. However, if you have followed this trilogy you will be a bit confused by some of the recurring actors as they are playing different characters this time around (Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo I noticed). Rodriguez did the same thing in Desperado with actors from El Mariachi; I don’t get it, unless he is just trying to confuse the people that know his work best. Just know that they are different characters going in because it’s a bit odd. Also the back story of El Mariachi and Carolina (Salma Hayek) is a bit strange itself. These are the only problems I have with the film.

If nothing else, action and Rodriguez junkies are going to eat this movie up! If you saw Desperado, the 2nd film in this trilogy, when El Mariachi would blow someone away with his flaming barrels they would fly 10 feet back into the air and through a wall. Well you’ve got that here except they go 20 feet into the air and the gun blasts oftentimes sound like canon fire! Everything in this movie is outrageously over-the-top, everything is taken to the extreme including Johnny Depp’s corrupt CIA agent “Sands” who is a real treat to watch, and who again steals the show (see Pirates of the Caribbean). Hayek was way underused (although she is featured in one of the movie’s great action sequences) but Banderas and Depp more than make up for her departure. Highly recommended to those who can handle lots and lots of gunplay, the kind that literally blows someone’s legs off.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.

(03-0915)

related links:

Once Upon A Time In Mexico - official site