Era Uma Vez no México

Once Upon A Time In Mexico is good, but not as strong as Desperado. Our hero, El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) barely has any lines. Throughout the movie we forget this talented actor is the star of the movie. The explosive action is incredible, and including Sands (Johnny Depp) is the only thing worth raving about. Depp's role is actually the best part of this movie. Salma Hayek's role has been chopped to flashbacks, so there is not a lot of crazy Action and Romance between Banderas and her. You want Antonio Banderas to save the day and he does, but this Sequel did not give him that fire. Eva Mendes is in about 4 scenes but does a great job including the rest of the cast (Ruben Blades, Cheech Marin, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, and Enrique Iglesias). It would have been nice to hear some hot new songs from Enrique Iglesias for the soundtrack but I am more than satisfied with Salma Hayek's "Siente Mi Amor". It is an incredible Spanish track, worth watching the entire credits!

Like "Desperado," the film offers nonstop action and a gargantuan body count. Robert Rodriguez knows how to please his audience, and the movie does work for the most part. As expected in a Rodriguez film, the action scenes are very well-choreographed and all possess a certain slickness and originality. Johnny Depp steals the show in his supporting role, and seems to be having the most fun. I actually looked at him as more of an action hero than Antonio Banderas. Then again, Banderas seems to be going through the motions. After all, he has played roles of this type many times before and is probably almost bored. I like how most of the movie is in subtitles. As I heard in the commentary, the reason for that was because most of the cast only spoke Spanish. But I'd rather see Mexican characters speaking in their native language, and having to read the subtitles, than them speaking in a second language that they obviously haven't mastered totally. Hollywood appears to have a fear of subtitles, and it's a stupid fear. Now onto what I didn't like about the movie...I'm not exaggerating when I say that it has nonstop violence. I'm not one of these people who gets bothered by excessive violence, but after a while all that action and killing can get a little dull. You just sit there waiting for the next body to fall to the ground. The story isn't non-existent, but I think if Rodriguez paid a little more attention to developing characters and story, his films might be even more interesting. But altogether, I was entertained. You don't view a film like this in the same way you view a Kubrick film. So what you see is what you get.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

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.

"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).

...not because it is a piece of cinematography at it's best but simply because you will need to see it two or three times to actually understand the basic plot of the movie (even though I enjoyed watching it immensely).

The main thing that will draw people to watch this movie will be the fact that it has Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes, Enrique Iglesias...and many more famous names in it. Although I must admit that some of them should have been given bigger parts or else have been left out altogether.

I did enjoy watching this movie but it doesn't make sense the first time around...there is so much going on that the audience often feels as if trying to figure everything out will cause their brains to overheat. up are still a definite factor, however, As Johnny Depp lends his style and talents to the character of corrupt C.I.A agent, Sheldon Jeffrey Sands(he even came up with the 'sheldon Jeffrey' part of the name) even though the part was originally written for Quentin Tarantino. And praise is much deserved of Enrique Iglesias who plays the opinionated but still very loyal Lorenzoand also Eva Mendes who plays Agent Ajedrez with edge and darkness.

This film is very much one for people who are fans of explosions and action but not for those who like well-written plots. I did enjoy this movie and I think Robert Rodriguez has impeccable style even if he doesn't present it well in some instances.