Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The title may invoke Leone, but this brash, flamboyant third instalment of Rodriguez's Mariachi cycle was plainly also influenced by Mad Max, Jackie Chan and Sam Peckinpah. El Mariachi (Banderas) is prised out of mourning retirement by crooked CIA agent Depp to foil an assassination plot against the Mexican president, only to become a pawn in drug baron Dafoe's bigger scheme. Motifs and plot points are hardly explained and certain characters are so sketchily drawn it's hard to work out why they're there. The one point of calm in the ever-increasing din is Banderas, a tousled, beatific presence, given to striking dreamy poses with his guitar. This is a self-indulgent mess, but in its own harum-scarum way, it's also kind of fun - zestful, eccentrically cast and peppered with striking set pieces. Rodriguez wrote, co-produced, scored, shot and edited the film, as well as directing it - in two months, on digital video. In other words, despite having a studio behind him, he's behaving as if he was still the same no-budget auteur who made El Mariachi for $7,000. Lighten the workload, Robert, and learn to collaborate.Author: GM
User reviews of this film
-
- Leona Luk said...
-
Posted on Aug 11 2007 17:32
Sigh.
What could have been so good really just...wasn't.
The plot is all over the place, and in some films this could potentially be forgiven if the action provided is awe inspiring - however this isn't the case here. Oh there are some interesting stunts and explosions, however nothing so amazing that it caused me to forget the fact that I don't really know who these people are or why they're doing all of this stuff.
And did I mention Enrique Iglesias (pre-mole removal) is in it? His performance is pretty much as I expected it would be, although looking at everything around him in this one, perhaps that is not really his fault.
Clocking in at 1 hour and 42 minutes, it frankly felt a lot longer than that. - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Elizabeth Avellán, Carlos Gallardo, Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Rubén Blades, Willem Dafoe, Gerardo Vigil, Pedro Armendáriz full cast
Duration: 102 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
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
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
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