Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Great look into the Mexican lifestyle.

Wonderfully fun and twisted entertainment. We need more like this.

In Once Upon a Time in Mexico, writer/director Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Spy Kids, From Dusk Til Dawn) revisits characters he created and introduced with the low budget, but highly enjoyable, 1992 release of El Mariachi and followed up on in 1995's Desperado.Antonio Banderas returns as El Mariachi, reprising his the role from Desperado that made him a name in Hollywood. Also included is Selma Hayak as Carolina, Johnny Depp as the corrupt CIA operative Agent Sands, Willem Dafoe as a cartel drug kingpin Barillo, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Enrique Egelsias, Cheech Marin, Ruben Blades, and character actor Danny Trejo.The plot, as I understood it, involved a complicated scheme to overthrow the president of Mexico, and who would end up assuming power in the vacuum that follows. Agent Sands was particularly involved in this, seeming to work both ends for his own profit. El Mariachi is recruited by Sands to eliminate the general hired by the leader of the drug cartel to assassinate the president. The reason Sands contacted El Mariachi for this is due to a past, unresolved conflict between El Mariachi and the general. Sounds complicated? At some point, you may have to just go along with the movie, accept all the little subplots, and enjoy the ride. And a fun ride at that.The action is wonderful in this movie but scenes choreographed and shot beautifully, with associated scenery adding real texture and depth to the proceedings. The characters, especially Agent Sands (Johnny Depp) are fun to watch, and the bullets do fly. Explosions, bodies flying, action flowing in and out...there are few dull moments in this film.The main problem I had with the movie is the plot just got too convoluted. With the number of characters running around, the character of El Mariachi seemed be relegated to a secondary plot thread at times. Maybe this was the intention, but having seen the two previous movies in this series, I think he should have had more screen time. And some of the scenes cut out but put into the deleted scenes section would have helped in some cases to keep the flow of the film moving. There was one scene, where Agent Sands is wearing a really bad fake moustache, and then the following scene he doesn't have it on...a deleted scene shows what happened to it, but had it been left in the movie, it wouldn't have created this minor gap that only served to bring me out of the movie. One minute moustache, the next, no moustache...not a big deal, really, but this happened a couple of other times. Also this movie seemed to lack the chemistry created in Desperado between Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayak. You'll understand more if you watch the movie, as I don't want to give away too much, but their relationship seemed glossed over, probably due to the inclusion of other elements.The movie looks wonderful, and there are scads of extras in this movie, and they are listed on the product page, so I won't get into them. All in all, a fun, flamboyant, action filled movie with beautiful scenery that got tripped up a little on its' various subplots, losing the viewer in the process at times.

And that's saying a lot. This film has no lax moments. The writing, directing and acting are all tightly woven into a very exciting piece. Antonio Banderas (I have to admit, he's one of my favorite actors) is wonderful. Johnny Depp is wonderful as well and provides occasional much needed comic relief as the American CIA agent in Mexico who does NOT speak Spanish. His role is replete with irony, mostly based on his assumption that a) he has everything under control and b) that he is the one to provide 'balance' to Mexican politics. Danny Trejo has an expanded role in this film -- his was very brief in 'Desperado' -- and he fills it commendably. Salma Hayek's character only appears in flashbacks of 'El Mariachi', but the footage is entirely new; there are no (or at least very few) flashback that go all the way back to 'Desperado'. I've never seen this device used before, especially not to the degree that the character fills in gaps between the two films, but is never part of the main action. She's just as important to the story and provides a revenge motivation for "El Mariachi".I enjoyed this film tremendously. Very highly recommended.

This movie makes me seem smart!

The third and final film in Robert Rodriguez’s Mexican trilogy, which started with his debut film El Mariachi, and continued with Desperado. You can buy those together in a blu-ray 2 pack. This is the finale, Once Upon a Time in Mexico! With an all star cast featuring Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Selma Hayek, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, Cheech Marin, and of course Danny Trejo! Special features include a commentary, deleted scenes, and more.

It's cool to see Depp before his "Pirates" career, although his performance sucked in this movie. He was probably concentrating too hard on his American accent and couldn't work on giving it character. The rest of the movie was pretty good. I liked the happy ending for all parties, although Depp's character could've lost a few extra body parts. He deserves worse for killing civilians and being a horrible person. The movie has a bit of the fantasy violence vibe from Tarantino's movies, except it's not a mind-numbing gore-fest. It's a fairy tale with guns and spies.

It's hard to explain it because there is no part of the movie that is the best. It's just a great thoroughly enjoyable film throughout.

Delivered in great condition on time :)5 star service

El Mariachi is called back into action again by Johnny Depp's devious CIA man, and is soon fighting against a coup attempt against the local president by a coalition of a crime lord and an army general that has got to big for his boots.Antonio Banderas steps straight back into the Mariachi role, as if he had never been away. Johnny Depp has fun as the CIA agent, in a role reminiscent of Jack Sparrow, and Willem Dafoe is an odd but effective choice as the crime lord, bringing a real hint of menace to the role. Mickey Rourke as Billy was truly excellent.Despite a great cast, the film has some serious flaws. In short it is too ambitious, and jut doesn't manage to live up to its ambition. There is a lot going on here, lots of subplots and ancillary characters, told with a mixture of flash back and straight narration. There are still plenty of thrills and spills along the way, as various characters wreak mayhem all around them with a variety of Rodriguez's trademark impossible weapons, and in the main this is an entertaining romp. But it is just a bit of a mish mash at times, and for that 4 stars only.

I watched this with my teenage daughter and the only reason I gave it 4 stars was because I had to keep explaining what was going on! It was a very good movie all in all though. As a bit of a Depp fan I had been eagerly awaiting this film because I wanted to see his character, Agent Sands. I wasn't disappointed. His character was very funny and I loved his little quirks and different disguises.The whole plot can be a little confusing as I have already said, but as long as you aren't easily distracted you should be fine. There are great performances all round apart from Enrique Iglesias. WHAT was Rodriguez thinking? I just thank the Lord above that he isn't in it very much!!!There are some really good action sequences throughout and it isn't too long. If you enjoyed the first films in this trilogy, you will either love this one or hate it. I loved it!!!

Arrived on time and in good condition.

the cia, fbi, split army with good and bad guys, and bandits, this is a film if you can follow who is after who!! violent and with pleanty of blood and guts all through, definitely one for all action movie fans, but personally, i won,t bother viewing this one often!