Irgendwann in Mexico

ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (2003) *** Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Mickey Rourke, Ruben Blades, Eva Mendes, Willem Dafoe, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Gerardo Vigil, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Julio Oscar Mechoso, Tito Larriva. Wunderkind Robert Rodriguez' grand finale - Sergio Leone-style - of his South of the Border trilogy of El Mariachi, the lone assassin for hire cum renegade (Banderas once again) who is out for revenge (natch) for the murder of his beloved (the achingly gorgeous Hayek in flashbacks) while being ‘hired' by gonzo-crazed CIA man Depp (in Walken mode) involving a corrupt federale (the heavenly femme fatale Mendes), a retired FBI agent (Blades) and a nasty presidente-wanna-be madman (Dafoe in heavy bronzer) resulting in a digital bloodbath with flying corpses, gravity defying stunts (and women to boot!) and much tongue-thru-cheek take-no-prisoners guerilla filmmaking Rodriguez has made a trademark for (writing, ‘chopping' and directing) with more of the same to the nth degree. Bloody good carnage and suspension of disbelief should be checked at the door. And for the record: that is Rourke's own Chihuahua.

I am a fan of Robert Rodriguez's previous offerings of El Mariachi and the wonderful Desperado. Here he once more returns to the same character as portrayed in the two earlier outings but this time seems to miss the mark by a country mile. Although the first two movies were simple 'revenge' films which served to give the shoot-outs their purpose; this movie tries to embellish this idea with a few sub-plots which frankly just don't work. I was bored throughout and even though he returns with his trademark comic-book violence, this time round it just seemed to be one big yawn-fest.

I had no interest in any of the characters, I am madly in love with Salma Hayek but frankly here I could care less about her character. Banderas does fill the screen when on but sadly, it just isn't enough to lift this movie above more than mere average.

Sorry Robert, if a bigger budget means we have to suffer this, then please go back to the low budget movies that made your name, in those you were brilliant; here, merely less than average.

I've seen some bad movies in my day, but this one ranks right up there with the worst of them. Several other posters noticed the same thing in the opening credits, the film was CHOPPED by Rodriguez. That credit is the understatement of the century. It takes a really bad movie for me to be unhappy about it...I hated this film. The story was hard to follow, the action scenes were so bad they were laughable, and the great cast was wasted on this wretched project. Johnny Depp is the sole bright spot in this movie, too bad the story didn't evolve around him. In the end, even he was relegated to a completely rediculous role. Who did Rodriguez think Depp was...Daredevil? Ugh. I wouldn't watch this again if you paid me $20.

I think this will be remembered as Rodriguez's vanity project, a film so indulgent it makes a strong case for studio control. Its narrative is feeble, its caricatures squeezed into the plot, and even much of the action is repetitive. Rodriguez is an inventive filmmaker, but he's certainly no artist, as this, the third part of his personal Mariachi trilogy, proves.

Of the cast, Ruben Blades is good as an ex-FBI agent persuaded to avenge his partner, while Johnny Depp steals the film from just about everyone, including the director. The rest of this bloodbath is pretty much a bore. Banderas' character is reduced to an extremely silly comic book hero - more interested in his guitar than he is of avenging his woman (a redundant cameo from Salma Hayek).

Rodriguez intended this as his Leone trilogy, but as over the top as those Dollars films were, there was more gravitas in one frame than in the whole of this daft pastiche.

Overstuffed and very silly, this is a disappointing effort.

"Once Upon a Time in Mexico" shows off Robert Rodriguez's affinity for comic books to a fault, displaying enormous style, and liberally dousing the film in charismatic violence, but this comic book connection is so prominent that the film fails to make an impact in its own medium. Most of the characters have great conceptual appeal, but this possibility is never fully realized with the detailing that connects the audience to the characters. This lack is further nurtured by Antonio Banderas, who as usual coasts on his looks, serving as a fleshly puppet for dialog and action sequences.

Unrealistic, albeit imaginative action further serves to isolate the viewer from the story. The plot is actually quite worthy for a pure action film of this type, although it is sufficiently complex that some viewers would only be further annoyed.

Overall, this is not an terrible movie, but rather, is a movie that is sufficiently stylized that it would appeal most to a young audience (problematic with its R rating).