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Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

18A  -  Action | Thriller  -  12 September 2003 (USA)
6.4
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Ratings: 6.4/10 from 113,179 users   Metascore: 56/100
Reviews: 468 user | 179 critic | 34 from Metacritic.com

Hitman "El Mariachi" becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent and a corrupt Mexican general.

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Title: Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) on IMDb 6.4/10

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Gerardo Vigil ...
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El Presidente (as Pedro Armendariz)
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Tito Larriva ...
Cab Driver
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Storyline

In the third movie of Rodriguez's "Mariachi" trilogy, a Mexican drug lord pretends to overthrow the Mexican government, and is connected to a corrupt CIA agent who at that time, demands retribution from his worst enemy to carry out the drug lord's uprising against the government. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The Time Has Come.

Genres:

Action | Thriller

Certificate:

18A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

Language:

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Release Date:

12 September 2003 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Il était une fois au Mexique  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$668,678 (Japan) (5 March 2004)

Gross:

$3,112,845 (Japan) (2 April 2004)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

There are several scenes that were leftover from El mariachi (1992) and Desperado (1995). The hotel escape was originally intended for Desperado, and the escape from the compound (while guarded in a jail cell) was included in the original script for El Mariachi. See more »

Goofs

During the opening gunfight, when El Mariachi spins his gun and points it at Marquez it is an automatic. In the next shot, it is a revolver. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Agent Sands: I never heard of him.
Belini: Who?
Agent Sands: The man you recommended.
Belini: The guitar fighter?
See more »

Crazy Credits

The Dimension Films logo is tinted brown to match the color scheme of the movie. See more »

Connections

References Dip huet seung hung (1989) See more »

Soundtracks

Cuka Rocka
Arranged and Performed by Chingón
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Why did it go so wrong?
12 October 2003 | by (Wales, UK) – See all my reviews

This is the third movie in the El Mariachi series - I won't call it trilogy for it was never meant to be one in the first place. And as such, it is the most stunningly disappointing.

Let's recap. Ages ago, an ultra low-budget little film from Mexico kick starts a director's career. That movie had melodrama, a sense of humor and some low-budget action thrown in for good measure. It was by far the most poetic of the three movies - "El Mariachi". Then, a sequel of sorts is created, on a bigger (though still small) budget, and as pure action movie. "Desperado" featured better looking actors, big explosions, hot & steamy scenes and some great wirework in the pre-Matrix era. It was cool, brainless fun, and it worked.

Now comes the third movie, and while it casts even more good looking and famous people, it fails to deliver. The story is confusing, throwing a coup d'etat, drug cartels, personal vengeance, the CIA, FBI, and stereotyped Mexicans into a weird mixture that never quite works. Too abrupt are the cuts between scenes (Johnny Depp was said to be surprised at the amount of screen time he got. Understandable, really, considering he spends half of it on various cell phones talking to never-seen people, mostly shouting "hello, can you hear me? I'll call back later..."), too many characters populate the screen, and too many plot twists ruin the story.

The end result is a failure. But, alas, the story should have been irrelevant anyway. After all, isn't this a sequel to Desperado more than El Mariachi, an action spectacle-to-be? Well, there is some gore in this movie (you get to see bones and blood galore), but surprisingly little action. All action scenes are so violently cut and shredded into 1/3 second bits that the visual awe is lacking. Antonio Banderas seems to appear out of a different place from where we last saw him in every major battle, as if by magic. The overall result is frighteningly amateurish, given the much more skilled action choreography and camerawork in Desperado.

So, no story, no action, no visual eye candy. What's left? Some music (the one thing Rodriguez did well on this movie), and lots of "spot the famous actor". Oh, yes, and of course the magical revival of three characters that died in Desperado, without explanation or other reference. When I say "died", I mean on camera, in great detail, without any question of doubt, funeral almost included - unlike this movie, where at least 2 characters survive shots to the heart only to survive and plan their vengeances....

Pity. I had really been looking forward to it. 4/10


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