Once Upon A Time In Mexico
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Mickey Rourke
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Category: IIB Fans of wham-bam cinema should head straight indoors - Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon A Time In Mexico gives you plenty of bang for your buck. Unfortunately, the film gives little else.
The third of Rodriguez's 'Mariachi' series - following El Mariachi and Desperado - picks up the tale of El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas). He is hunted down by maverick CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) who wants to use his services as a gun for hire in a convoluted scheme involving a drug king (Willem Dafoe) and a plot to kill the president of Mexico. Our hero has a lot on his mind - not the least being the loss of his wife (Salma Hayek in an all-too-brief cameo) and his child - and he sees the scheme as a way of exacting revenge on the guy who killed his family.
This basic outline affords Rodriquez the luxury of jumping from battle to battle, breaking it all up with the wry humour provided by Depp's character, and many long, lingering shots of Banderas in full-on moody matador mode. The support cast bounces in and out without making too much of an impact - Dafoe is totally wasted and only Mickey Rourke, as a crim on the lam, provides any spark.