Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003) Movie Review

Persuaded out of retirement by CIA Agent Sands (Depp) with the promise of revenge, El Mariachi (Banderas) has to break a promise and take up his gun again. Cartel leader Barillo (Defoe) wants the President of Mexico dead after he announces a war on criminals and has hired a power hungry, corrupt General to stage a military take-over of the presidential palace. On learning this, the Mariachi’s mission is not only to seek retribution but also to save the future of the Mexican people.

Prolific moviemaker Robert Rodriguez goes back to the franchise that started his career and eleven years since his first appearance, the man with the guitar case returns.

The El Mariachi series becomes a trilogy and credit has to go to filmmaker Robert Rodriquez, emphasizing the word filmmaker. The man is unique in the world of movies. He directs, writes, produces, operates the camera, edits, supervises the special effects, edits the sound and now has added the new skill of composer to his extensive list of expertise. He has to be one of the most talented people working in film today.

Antonio Banderas returns to the action role he made his own. As the guitar playing killer, he deals out justice with his usual flare and extreme violence. The body count is huge as Banderas and his fellow mariachi’s fight to save Mexico. It almost harks back to the excesses of the late 1980s, early 1990s but saying that you won’t have expected less from a Mariachi movie. This is stylised violence but with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek humour that means you never take it too seriously.

Most of the humour is provided by another scene-stealing turn by Johnny Depp. He is cornering the market in strange characters, with a slightly mad disposition and his Agent Sands is another classic, quotable creation. Everything he does is hysterical, to the point that you long for his character to have more screen time than he actually has.

The star-studded cast provides great support for the two main players. Salma Hayek is as beautiful as ever and is now just as deadly. Willem Defoe is suitably over-the-top as the crazed cartel leader. Mickey Rourke’s career might be taking a change for the better. Enrique Iglesias shows he is much more that just a singer. Eva Mendes is becoming a young actress to watch and Rodriquez stalwarts Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin are as good as ever.

What lets the movie down in comparison to the previous two is the lack of a comprehensible story. While the main Mariachi story is explained and executed well, it is the subplots that are not drawn out enough or satisfactorily concluded. Agent Sands’ motivations are never really explained and the final part of his story is just plain bizarre. The reasons behind Barillo’s plan are never really clarified. Who is the FBI Agent speaking to all the time or is he just mad? These subplots and the questions from them tend to get in the way of the main story.

The action and excessive violence distract you from the plot shortcomings as Rodriguez really goes to town with the set sequences, gunplay and great dialogue, especially from Depp. Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a fun finale to a tongue in cheek homage to the western. While it isn’t the best of the series, it is still a far better sequel than many other offerings. Now where is that Mexican chef?