Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is even cooler and more stylish than Desperado, but with a needlessly overwrought and hectic story in which there is no time for the most important thing, which is thorough development of the characters who are the foundation of the film. The whole time is spent with someone arguing with someone else in secret or shooting at somebody. Robert Rodriguez tried to cram three hours of material into eighty minutes and the result is a rushed and at times unintentionally torpid mishmash that’s more suitable for fans of Spy Kids than Desperado fans. (2003-10-29)

For me, as a fan of Desperado, this was quite a shock. Immediately after watching, I thought it was noticeably weaker than the previous installment, but still good; now, however, it is clear to me that Robert Rodriguez took on too much. Antonio Banderas shoots just as accurately and stylishly s ever, Salma Hayek is still so beautiful it hurts, but the rest is bad. Johnny Depp tries incredibly hard and seems to fit in with his cool attitude, but his character is desperately unnecessary, just like everything else. The shootouts, one-liners, and desperate looks against a background of guitar could have followed a straightforward path of revenge. This is a concoction trying to imitate Sergio Leone's partially politically oriented scripts, both in terms of the title and the plot, but it fails in practically every direction. The action was wasted in this case. (2007-04-27)

This is like Rodriguez filmed a much longer picture, but used just half of it and also arranged it in an order that has no head or tail to it. As a result, scenes that were evidently supposed to be a tribute to or “quote" from Leone turn come across like they are making fun of him and are incredibly embarrassing. Better to watch Desperado for the umpteenth time, rather than this. (2004-08-06)

The sequel does not reach the quality of Desperado. The action is even more daring and the plot is even more convoluted, not to mention the large number of characters that will just confuse the viewers. The clutter of sets and costumes can be tolerated, but Rodriguez's effort to be very cool started to annoy me. Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek are a pleasure to watch. Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas are also okay. The rest is just average and routine work. (2004-01-01)

Yeah, it's fun. Robert Rodriguez goes of the rails quite a bit and even though he gets really wild in places, it surprisingly works thanks to the the stars, of which there are more than a few. Johnny Depp is terrific along with Antonio Banderas, the rest are slightly overshadowed, but it's a nice watch thanks to the occasional slapstick and over the top action. 65% (2016-05-06)