Political commentary is to be expected in the creative medium of filmmaking. Yet, there is a time and a place for it. One would not expect to witness political undertones in a Robert Rodriguez film. Ergo, Once Upon A Time in Mexico' is a brash, violent and massively disappointing debacle, which holds Rodriguez's follow up to the gaudy 1995 film Desperado' as a quasi-western wrapped in a Mexican political sentiment. Rodriguez first burst onto the Hollywood mainstream with his impressive $7,000 film El Mariachi' which was later remade into his 1995 signature film Desperado'. Sadly, since then, Rodriguez's best achievement has been the highly lucrative Spy Kids' trilogy for Miramax banking in more than 275$ Million in total. Yet, just when we thought Rodriguez would display his true affinity for filmmaking, he drapes himself with the love a country (Mexico) and engineers despondent political commentary masquerading as an action film. Filled with extemporaneous characters, blurred action sequences displaying the lack of choreography and plenty of comedic misfires, the film that could have been was not. Once Upon A Time in Mexico' is a calamity since it was the spawn of one of the most gifted Directors out there today. Rodriguez so eloquently states in his opening Western sequence filled with guitar solos through his credits that he shot, chopped and scored the film. And while it was indeed a labor of love, he does his best at parlaying his love for cinema. Yet his convoluted script and lack of action sequences leaves the filmgoer bitter and once again in revolution against the lack of worthy Hollywood cinema. Antonio Banderas reprises his role as the guitar wielding, gun-toting El Mariachi who actually dwells in the background of this multi-layered, ambitious misfortune of a storyline which spirals into eternal script damnation. Willem Dafoe wins this year's Miscast Actor of the Year' Award as he thickens a horrendous Mexican accent to portray Armando Barillo, a Mexican Drug Lord who intends to overthrow the Mexican President. Johnny Depp (whose gracious acting styles, wicked one-liners and bloodied missing eyeballs cannot even save this film) is a corrupt CIA agent who demands payback for the uprising and employs El Mariachi to ensure the uprising does not go according to plans. Inside this thick, abrupt, coarse and difficult-when-it-does-have-to-difficult storyline lays a story (somewhere) about lost love, vendettas and retribution. Therein lies the problem. The vengeance and retribution should have been at the forefront of this film instead of casting a treatise on Mexico's political state.
Banderas does his best to speak as little as possible while Rodriguez displays his editing skills in excess of as he uses transitions and dissolves at every waking moment, which further saddens the film and proves to be disappointing for an Artist of his once thought of inherent brilliance. What keeps this film going through its many gaps is the constant appearance of a blistering cast. Just as the film begins to dip, there is Mickey Rourke appearing as a washed out fugitive. Then as his underdeveloped character begins to become tiring, there is the sexy Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious, Training Day) portraying an equally underdeveloped Mexican Officer. Wait; just as the script becomes obscenely over-the- top, we have Ruben Blades (Devil's Own, Color of Night) appearing as a retired FBI Agent adamant about putting a stop to Barillo's tyrannical feats. And just when you think you can't possibly see any space for another dumb-witted character, Rodriguez lays it thick with the biggest of them all - there is Enrique Iglesias; mole and all, prostituting himself for a dollar (much like he does in real life). Rodriguez stuns the audience with the lack of action, the missing depth in storytelling and the absence of Salma Hayek for a ridiculous reasons which to this point I still do not know how bettered the script. Without releasing any information, her absence is supposed to make the audience see how it fuels the rage behind El Mariachi'. Yet Rodriguez is too busy trying to display his lack of proficient storytelling that he completely misdirects his stressing of the main points of the film. In a disappointing direction for the film, the main character is the country of Mexico and masked behind this glamororized B-Movie Western is a strong political sentiment that is completely misplaced.
Giancarlo's Rating: *1/2
Banderas does his best to speak as little as possible while Rodriguez displays his editing skills in excess of as he uses transitions and dissolves at every waking moment, which further saddens the film and proves to be disappointing for an Artist of his once thought of inherent brilliance. What keeps this film going through its many gaps is the constant appearance of a blistering cast. Just as the film begins to dip, there is Mickey Rourke appearing as a washed out fugitive. Then as his underdeveloped character begins to become tiring, there is the sexy Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious, Training Day) portraying an equally underdeveloped Mexican Officer. Wait; just as the script becomes obscenely over-the- top, we have Ruben Blades (Devil's Own, Color of Night) appearing as a retired FBI Agent adamant about putting a stop to Barillo's tyrannical feats. And just when you think you can't possibly see any space for another dumb-witted character, Rodriguez lays it thick with the biggest of them all - there is Enrique Iglesias; mole and all, prostituting himself for a dollar (much like he does in real life). Rodriguez stuns the audience with the lack of action, the missing depth in storytelling and the absence of Salma Hayek for a ridiculous reasons which to this point I still do not know how bettered the script. Without releasing any information, her absence is supposed to make the audience see how it fuels the rage behind El Mariachi'. Yet Rodriguez is too busy trying to display his lack of proficient storytelling that he completely misdirects his stressing of the main points of the film. In a disappointing direction for the film, the main character is the country of Mexico and masked behind this glamororized B-Movie Western is a strong political sentiment that is completely misplaced.
Giancarlo's Rating: *1/2
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