Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDesperado (1995)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Less a sequel than a loose, bigger-budget remake of El Mariachi, Rodriguez's second feature may be a rambling, derivative exercise in gratuitous violence, but its determination to proceed as if the word 'restraint' never existed makes for gleeful entertainment. The story takes off from and rehashes the first film. Out to avenge his girlfriend's death, the mariachi (Banderas) turns up in a lawless border town, determined, against the advice of his buddy Buscemi (Steve, that is), to kill drug-lord Bucho (De Almeida). There's a hitch: Bucho knows he's targeted, and orders his myriad henchmen to waste anybody new in town. Happily, after a run-in with one such thug, the mariachi falls in with bookstore proprietor Carolina (Hayek), who offers him shelter from the storm of bullets. Humour comes mainly via Buscemi, De Almeida and, in a pleasingly curtailed cameo, a mugging Tarantino. If the irony and invention lacks the light touch of El Mariachi, there's more than enough preposterous pleasure to be had from Rodriguez's expertise with the action set-pieces and absurdist approach to the story's mythical aspirations. Bloody good fun.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Robert Rodriguez, Bill Borden
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Quentin Tarantino full cast
Duration: 105 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now