Once Upon A Time in Mexico

Synopsis: The saga of the guitar-slinging gunman, El Mariachi, (Antonio Banderas) continues in the third installment of Robert Rodriguez’s action trilogy, with political intrigue, a ruthless drug baron, a despotic general, and a slippery CIA agent thrown into the mix.

The only reason for seeing this film is if you liked the first two outings in the trilogy, El Mariachi and Desperado. Unfortunately, even if you did, that really isn’t going to make this very satisfying.

The film comes with hype and a history. Rodriguez’s debut, El Mariachi, was shot for US$7,000. Columbia then spent $100,000 remixing the sound and remastering 35mm prints from the original 16mm. The result is impressive considering Rodriguez was producer, director, writer, special-effects man, and pretty much everything else other than actor. It rolls along with the unassuming and unknown lead actor (Carlos Gallardo) as the hapless musician who’s mistaken for an assassin. When the real assassin turns up, things get tricky. Along the way, the film has something to say about the Mexican drug business being driven by demand from the USA. And the film has a certain charm in its love story, but, unfortunately, a tragic end.

Then came Desperado. Columbia gave Rodriguez $7 million to produce it. While a tiny sum in action movie standards, it resulted in an extravagant amount of action per dollar. Again, Rodriguez wrote, produced, directed, edited. Again, the camera is inventive and the film references abound. It edges more towards the influence of Rodriguez’s friend Tarantino with its tight dialogue and hyper-realised violence; but doesn’t capture the pacing and humor that are needed to sustain and soften it. The new leads of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek add a certain charm, and a natural passion. But the film lacks substance, plot or a clear connection to the original. It makes up for it in brilliantly stylized set pieces. A guilty pleasure, in brief.

And now comes Mexico. It both builds on the strengths of Desperado, but falls even harder on its weaknesses. Rodriguez is getting cocky. He is jauntily credited as having ‘shot, chopped and scored’ another ‘Rodriguez flick’. He is now openly laying claim to Sergio Leone territory, and calls the films his ‘Dollars trilogy’. But they aren’t in the same league as Leone’s classic triptych. By the end of his three-parter, Leone had captured something truly cinematic albeit deceptively simple. Rodriguez’s film, however, is a pastiche of sometimes grotesque violence, with nonsensical plot twists. Whereas the character of El Mariachi was motivated in the first two films by love and this worked well with their romanticised heroics, in Mexico this is replaced by a desire for revenge and by patriotism and it just doesn't work as well. Added to which is the general irritation that Salma Hayek's character had such a circumscribed role in the blood-sodden mess.

Despite its massive problems, Mexico does have some interesting characters and entertaining set pieces. Ultimately it is Johnny Depp as a compellingly-likeable psycho who provides the perhaps main reason to get Mexico out on video one night. But keep your finger on the fast forward.

 

 

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