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Once Upon A Time in Mexico

Often flashy and dreamlike, but never disappointing for those going in without expectations, Once Upon A Time in Mexico delivers on every level. Action, romance, comedy, revenge, suspense, and irony--Robert Rodriguez leaves nothing to the imagination, letting his own run wild.

El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) returns seeking revenge against General Marquez, the man who killed his wife (Salma Hayek) and daughter in a series of flashbacks that do not really catch the audience up to speed with the previous two movies in the series (El Mariachi and Desperado). Still, we get the gist none-the-less. He's one angry guy.

Banderas seems to take a back seat to Johnny Deep's character, a CIA agent who wants to use "El" in a scheme to take down a drug kingpin (Willem Dafoe)attempting to overthrow the Mexican President. I'm not really certain what this has to do with the previously mentioned revenge plot--all the sub-plots seem a bit convoluted when mixed together. I guess the General is somehow involved in the plan to overthrow the President, but I didn't quite catch why, amidst all the action.

All of the prior key players make cameos, most notably Cheech Marin, who has a quite humorous exchange with Depp's character, only to end in extreme violence. Once Upon A Time does little that isn't exactly that. Every killing, up to the final death continues to outdo the previous.

Depp's performance outshines that of Banderas, who really isn't at fault. Rodriguez seems to have handed all the good one-liners and plot moving material to Depp, who took it and ran in his most outrageous performance to date--even more so than his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow. Even the nifty guitar case antics are left to the other two mariachis, which included Enrique Iglesias this time around. The young, rough around the edges shtick wore a little thin, but overall I was impressed with his performance.

Once Upon A Time in Mexico is a fun (albeit violent) and entertaining film. Visually stunning, and chocked full of all the elements we love about movies, Rodriguez ultimately succeeds in the art of storytelling. This MexiCAN do it all.

Written by: Laurie Kisner

Reviewers Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 7.70
Reader's Votes: 10

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