Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
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Director: Cast: Country: Year: 2003 Score: MPAA Rating: |
I am going to come right out and say it: Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the coolest film ever made. Much like Eastwood’s Man with No Name or McQueen’s Bullitt, Robert Rodriguez has created the ultimate cool action anti-hero in El Mariachi. Third in the El Mariachi / Desperado trilogy, Rodriguez ups the ante in this all-star, explosive chapter, creating a huge, sprawling neo-western epic on par with, if not exceeding, the best of Leone (as a matter of fact, this film owes more than a tip of it’s hat to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly).
Antonio Banderas returns as El Mariachi, the haunted ex-guitarrista with a case full of guns and ***censored***-load of bad-***censored*** moves. Taking up where Desperado left off, we find El back on the killing trail after Gen. Marquez kills his wife (once again reprised by the transcendent Salma Hayek) and child. He is hired by three-armed, double-dealing, one-line spouting CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp being brilliant, once again) to assassinate Marquez, who’s planning to assassinate el Presidente who wants to oust a creepy-***censored*** cartel leader played by the creepy-***censored*** Willem Dafoe. And much like the aforementioned The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, each character is never playing straight with another character and you never quite know which character is going to turn on the other.
And between it all is cool dialogue, deftly staged stunts and a wholly engaging plot. But the key element that makes Mexico so enthralling is the expert casting. Banderas speaks in actions-it seems like every move he makes is cool. Johnny Depp is the comedic heart of the film, tossing off the best lines, until his 180-El Topo homage at the film’s climax. Salma once again ignites the screen just by being herself, and Willem Dafoe and Mickey Rourke are their usual, believably slimy selves. But the stand-out performance has to be from Ruben Blades as the FBI agent looking for revenge. His subtle sadness and quiet demeanor is a welcome contrast to all the manic gunplay surrounding him. Just look at the scene where he’s about to take down Rourke at the taco stand. (As a matter if fact, Blades’ character reminds me a lot of Robert Forster’s Max Cherry from Jackie Brown).
Maybe it’s because of all these interweaving storylines that critics’ main complaint of Mexico has been its “complexity.” They say they get lost in the characters. They say there’s too many plot holes. What plot holes? What complexity? How do you not follow this film? And even if the plot were ***censored*** (which I assure you, it’s not), just kick back and dig the pure eye-candies that burst out of this bloody piñata. The visuals, always a Rodriguez strongpoint, are in full form here. From El Mariachi’s silhouette in the sun to the sweeping image of Sands’ last stand; it’s as if every shot is meant to be the coolest shot ever, a goal to which it remarkably and consistently surpasses. And on top of that-the action. One Hong Kong level stunt-piece after another. From kneecaps blown off to bullets in the head, the violence is stylized as ***censored***, proving that the Spy Kids franchise hasn’t mellowed Rodriguez out yet.
But perhaps, on a social level, I feel so enamored with the El Mariachi films (and perhaps Rodriguez in general) in the fact that it is so Latino-centric. Much like his Spy Kids films, 95% of the characters are Hispanic, both heroes and villains, all creating a new mythology and genre that had been previously unattainable and unavailable. No one plays the maid here-and if they did, she’d brandish a sawed-off and maybe some throwing knives.
Overall, Once Upon a Time in Mexico may not go down as the best film of the year, but it will definitely be the coolest, for now and years to come.
Louis Fowler is a frequent contributor to Cinema Eye and Hitch Magazine. He is also the publisher of Damaged Magazine, a new issue of which is coming soon.
Review by: Louis Fowler
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
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Director: Cast: Country: Year: 2003 Score: MPAA Rating: |
Following the overrated El Mariachi and the underrated Desperado, Robert Rodriguez’s Once upon a Time in Mexico completes a trilogy awash in grimy locations, power-packed shootouts and outrageous stunts. This entry had every right to best its predecessors, but comes up a few rounds short.
Antonio Banderas and his hair return as El Mariachi, the guitar-strumming gunslinger. He’s hired by a CIA agent – the occasionally three-armed Johnny Depp – to kill one Gen. Marquez, the military madman who brutally murdered El Mariachi’s wife (Salma Hayek) and child in cold blood. Meanwhile, Marquez is poised to overthrow Mexico’s new president, while Depp plays off and/or sets up informant Cheech Marin, retired FBI agent Ruben Blades, curvy cop Eva Mendez and dog-toting scumbag Mickey Rourke (now resembling a puffy orangutan), the right-hand man to drug cartel kingpin Willem Dafoe. How do all these characters fit together and what are their motives? I wish I could tell you, but this movie is so needlessly complex that it would take a finely detailed flowchart to figure it all out.
Because the story is so convoluted, it’s hard to invest much in Mexico for its often-slow first half. The pace quickens (and mood lightens) considerably in the home stretch, set during a chaotic Day of the Dead celebration-***censored***-riot. That’s when Rodriguez’s kinetic visual trademarks take spark. All of the action set pieces are over-the-top and first-rate, if a bit too choppy.
As he did with Pirates of the Caribbean, Depp elevates this movie to another level entirely. Without him, I’m afraid Mexico wouldn’t have enough to recommend, even with the tricked-out lethal guitars and Darkman-like character running around. He’s quirky and funny and relegates Banderas to a supporting character in his own franchise.
You’d think a flick with Hayek in one hand and Mendez in another would know how to juggle (and jiggle) properly. The previous films in this trilogy are models of simplicity, but here Rodriguez has too many things he wants to show you, too many tricks up his rolled-up sleeve. And in trying to cram them all within 90 minutes, he fails to sew the thread that gets you from Point A to Point B without any snags during the ride.
Rod Lott is the publisher of Hitch Magazine: The Journal of Pop Culture Absurdity.
Review by: Rod Lott
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
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Director: Cast: Country: Year: 2003 Score: MPAA Rating: |
After watching Once Upon a Time in Mexico, I am more convinced than ever that Desperado is a ***censored*** near perfect action movie. The story is simple. The action sequences are incredible. The main character wreaks major havoc. The girl is super-hot. The plot of the movie is so simple that a viewer can start watching at any time and get totally immersed in the film.
In stark contrast to this simplicity, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is large, sprawling and messy. This is the third film in Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi trilogy. However, the focus is no longer solely on the gun-slinging guitar player and his quest for revenge. In fact, it’s hardly even about El Mariachi at all… And that may be the movies problem.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico tells the story of a whole bunch of people plotting to overthrow the president of Mexico. The players include Johnny Depp as a CIA agent, Willem Dafoe as the leader of a drug cartel, Ruben Blades as a former FBI agent out for revenge, Eva Mendes as some kind of law enforcement agent and Mickey Rourke as a henchman who carries a chihuahua around with him all the time. To be fair, Rodriguez has created a very interesting cast of characters here. There are just too many of them. It’s an overload reminiscent of the SPY KIDS movies, except with people instead of gadgets.
The fact that all these characters are double-crossing each other makes it even harder to become emotionally involved in the movie. It almost seems like Rodriguez has been taking screenwriting lessons from George Lucas. Just as we don’t care about the political crap in the Star Wars movies, we don’t care about a bunch of people staging a coup in an El Mariachi movie. We want to see El Mariachi shooting people, playing guitar, banging Salma Hayek and jumping out of big fiery explosions.
At the center of all the political maneuverings is El Mariachi himself. Apparently a lot of time has passed since Desperado and we get filled in through flashbacks. I won’t go into details, but El Mariachi has had a pretty rough go of it between films and his revenge now has a new target. Mexico is most interesting when focused on El Mariachi. Antonio Banderas doesn’t get too many lines, but he doesn’t need them. His body language and facial expressions tell us everything we need to know about the character.
Johnny Depp’s corrupt CIA agent is a great character and immensely fun to watch. Rodriguez obviously realizes this, because Depp is probably on-screen for as much time as El Mariachi himself. He’s not a hero or a villain, but he’s a fascinating character and Depp seems to have a great time playing him. However, I’m still not sure what the hell he was up to.
When Mexico does flare up with action sequences, they are as visually exciting as ever. There are a few great set-pieces here, including a scene with a bus that echoes the bus sequence in the first El Mariachi. I was a little fearful that his time spent making kiddie movies, would soften his action movie chops. I shouldn’t have worried. Mexico seems almost gleefully gory. Bodies fly all over the screen. Eyeballs get drilled out. Kneecaps get shot off. Plastic surgeries go awry. It’s grotesque comic-book style mayhem.
Rodriguez is trying to do something bigger and better than he has done in the past. While I don’t think most of it succeeds, at least he still delivers the goods: lots of action, interesting characters and exciting filmmaking. You may be confused, but you won’t be bored. In fact, you may find yourself considering a second viewing of this film, just to get it all straightened out.
Rodriguez has created an interesting world filled with colorful characters in this series. While I’m sure he is eager to move on to different things, I hope we haven’t seen the last of El Mariachi and Rodriguez’s Mexico.
Review by: Cinema Eye
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