Era Uma Vez no México

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.

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!

"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).

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.