Release Date: September 12, 2003
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R (strong violence, language)
The title Once Upon a Time in Mexico alone testifies to director Robert Rodriguez’s intentions to make an action film of epic proportions. The words are an homage to Spaghetti Western filmmaker Sergio Leone, and because this is the third film in his El Mariachi trilogy it could be considered Rodriguez’s counterpart to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (which capped off Leone’s legendary Fistful of Dollars trilogy). Much like Leone’s Dollars movies, Rodriguez’s Mariachi films have become increasingly expensive and increasingly expansive.
The problem with Mexico is that it doesn't appear as though the extra money has gone to any discernable use. It tries to mash dozens of characters into a convoluted story that relies almost entirely on the director’s style to cover up its heartless and two-dimensional thinking. Luckily, though, Rodriguez has a knack for well-staged action and occasionally clever humor, and he has a couple of appealing actors to make the experience less brainless than it could've been.
Perhaps better known as the sequel to Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico marks the return of the unstoppable hitman called El Mariachi (or sometimes “El” for short), played once again by Antonio Banderas. He has apparently been in retirement since the events of the last film, and we learn only through flashbacks what happened to his lover (Salma Hayek) and a corrupt Mexican general whom El has now been asked to kill. A rogue CIA agent (Johnny Depp) is the man who hires El, and it’s all part of a grand revenge scheme that also involves the President of Mexico and a powerful drug lord called Barrillo (Willem Dafoe). There are a plethora of other characters who get thrown into the mix, but there’s little time taken in fleshing them out so they, like the rest of the plot, aren’t really worth mention.
Frankly, there isn’t much more to say about Rodriguez’s script, because it serves only as a ramshackle basis for him to show off his aptitude for filming chases, gunfights, and explosions. And though this talent does exist (after all, it only cost $7,000 for him to make the cult classic El Mariachi), he gets too carried away with trying to be cool rather than centering his attention on more important things, like storytelling. Plot structure and character development are the weakest elements of the movie, and moviegoers know by now that this is the path that more action films have taken than we would like.
Banderas and Depp play along with Rodriguez’s idea of fun, and they are both big reasons why Once Upon a Time in Mexico isn’t forgettable. Banderas plays the only three-dimensional character in the pile, and like he did with Desperado, he makes Rodriguez look better than he might deserve. The actor’s rugged handsomeness and talent with guns and music make him not only interesting to watch but also one of the more memorable action characters in the last decade. His best moment here is also the movie’s most impressive sequence, where El Mariachi is surrounded by a group of threatening men in a public square and he’s left with no option of escape. “I guess I have no choice but to kill you all,” he says, and proceeds to exterminate his opponents with little effort in a scene that boasts clever choreography, unique stunts, and rhythmic music.
Banderas is complimented by Depp, though they hardly share the screen together. For the latter actor, this looks as fun as any other role he might have had, but he isn’t allowed to carry himself as well as he did in the highly entertaining Pirates of the Caribbean (though he pays tribute to that part once or twice). His character is gleefully vicious here and he’s a fine choice for the role, yet there isn’t enough time spent with who he is and why he’s getting himself involved in this mess. Depp’s jovial (perhaps intoxicated) charm is another factor that saves Rodriguez’s otherwise senseless film. Few other actors could have pulled off a blind gunfight so well, and especially in that scene he rivals Banderas for style points.
Overall, Once Upon a Time in Mexico manages to avoid the realm of the ridiculous, but it doesn’t get around its typical action film roots. At 100 minutes long, it has more of a popcorn-bucket length than the longer and more respectable character driven epic that most were probably hoping for from Rodriguez. He didn’t need to outdo Sergio Leone, whose grand finale, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, ran 161 minutes long, but a bit more depth would’ve helped. This may have been the filmmaker’s labor of love (he not only wrote and directed it, he “shot, chopped, and scored” it), so it’s a shame that the finished product is generally a disappointment. It looks like he won’t be joining the ranks of Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie quite yet.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)