Rating: 
Summary: TRASH
Review: I will never watch this movie. My reason.. the trashy mexicans that live across the hall from me. Now I realize this group of mexican americans do not speak for all those of this race, but when six adult men live in a two bedroom apartment there is something wrong. These people have moved out recently. After smelling something hideous lingering from the open door of the abandon apartment, ..I walked in to take a peek. What I saw was shocking. The baige carpet was now black from filth. There are roaches scotch tapes to the walls everywhere, surrounded by roach eggs. The smell is as if there was a rotting corpes in the room with me. The ceiling is black from a past fire that they had put out themselves. I know this because I asked them if they wanted to use my phone to call the fire department. They told me they were cooking tortilla shells on the burner without a pan. They told me they had no pans. I gave them a pan fearing they would burn my apartment down with theirs. This makes me sick to my stomach. By the way I DON'T NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE TO KNOW IT SUCKS AS BAD AS THE SERVICE IN A MEXICAN RESTAURANT. HELP!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Nowhere near as good as Desperado, but it holds its own.
Review: I'll say it now- I love Despreado. It's the best action movie I've ever seen in my life, and one of my top 4 movies. So when Once Upon A Time In Mexico was announced, I actually went to see it in theaters. When it was over, I was disappointed. Salma Hayek, who has second billing, was in the movie for maybe 8 minutes. The story was confusing. And there was just too much going on compared to El Mariachi and Desperado. Leave it up to Quentin Tarantino, king of screwing good things up, to tell Robert to make another Desperado movie. No offense to Robert, but it shows that it was made just for the sake of making a movie in some spots. Recently, I decided to buy the disc to give it another try. Now, I can appreciate it a little better, but it still pales to its prequels.
The movie opens up with CIA Agent Sands and Belini sitting in a resturant. Belini tells Sands about El Mariachi and how great of a man he was, along with his wife Carolina. They nearly killed General Marquez, who works for a huge crimelord Barillo (equal to Bucho from Despreado, but with much more power). But, he didn't die, and moved on to get his own revenge. Through other flashbacks, we see what happened to Carolina and El's daughter. Sands seeks El's help to take out Marquez and Barillo. We learn that Marquez is planning to assassinate the president of Mexio on the behalf of Barillo. Of course, El sees this as his chance to finish everything. But...here's where things get a little out of hand. There are two other people thrown into the mix. Former FBI Agent Jorge Ramirez is after Barillo for torturing and killing his partner. I like this character a lot, and really feel bad for him at times, hoping he won't be killed off, but he has no place n the movie. He just makes things a little more complicated than they already are. Also thrown into the mix is a cop, Ajedrez. She...well, I'm still not too sure about her. She double-crosses both sides a few times, and it just got annoying after a while. Honestly, just block her out while wathching the movie, and you won't notice much of a difference. But once we meet these two, El goes to get the help of his two new buddies: Lorenzo and Fideo. They have a bigger part than Campa and Quino did in Desperado, but they don't put up as much of a fight as those two bad-asses did. You knew they had to top the rocket launcher guitar case though, and they sure as hell did here. There's tons of action going on here in Once Upon A Time In Mexico, while most of it isn't as stylish as that in Desperado, it holds its own. Since Robert got tons of money (compared to his other films) for this one, he was able to do much bigger things. Just check out the explosion as El and Carolina jump towards the camera. In the end, I'd give this movie 3 stars on its own. But, we all know that when Robert puts out a dvd, he goes all out, and that's where the higher rating comes from.
The first problem I have with the movie is the most obvious one- the flashback scenes. While it's nice that they actually do explain some bits of what happened with Carolina, it's just not enough. When I watched it for the first time, I had no idea what was going on. According to Robert on the commentary, this is actually part four in the El series. A non-existant third one takes place after Desperado, continuing the story of El and Carolina. No Robert. Just...no. I love your work and all, but man, don't ever do that. I'm begging for that movie to be released in any form. Book, comic, game, whatever. I just want to know the full story of what happened between Carolina and Marquez. It just doesn't make sense when Belini talks about it. The second problem is that Agent Sands gets way too much screen time. Essentially, this is his movie. El is a supporting character more or less. When El makes his first appearence in this movie (non-flashback), he's just not the same guy we knew. Sure, a lot's happened to him, but he doesn't even put up a fight when Cucuy and his men come for him. The El from Desperado wouldn't have had a problem taking them all out. Finally, there's just too much jumping around and weird editing. One of the last scenes has Ajedrez accompanying Barillo, then she sees Sands outside. Immediately, it cuts to her walking towards him. Great transition there. What were Barillo and his men doing the 5 minutes it took her to get there? Just standing around apparently. But cons aside, Once Upon A Time In Mexico is still a good movie. It's probably Robert's weakest that I've seen so far, but it's better than numerous other action movies that came out that same year. Besides, anything that continues the Desperado legacy is cool in my book.
The visual quality of Once Upon A Time In Mexico is simply stunning. Robert saw what HD Cameras could do when he saw a sneak-peek of Star Wars Episode II at Skywalker Ranch and he knew he has to use them for this movie. It shows. The lighting in some scenes will take your breath away. Of course, he didn't let this new technology do away with some of his old tricks we all know and love. Just check out his speech on one of the special features. But this is why dvds are made. I've yet to see a better looking movie. As for the audio, the soundtrack is truely memorable, and it's never too quiet or too loud. Explosions and gunshots sound great and crisp. Yep, this is a perfect transfer.
The special features of course, are excellent. First, we get a commentary from Robert, and he never shuts up. And that's not a bad thing. I love hearing him talk about movies because he spills everything. How great HD Cameras were to work with, how quickly they filmed this movie (you won't believe it if I told you here), how many days they had Johnny Depp on the set, problems with getting Salma to stay longer (she was busy with Frida at the same time as this one), sets, noting another staple in the El series: a boy wearing a yellow shirt, and much more. He even mentions how his team made Sands' decoy arm look all futuristic, but he just wanted something simple, and they got it by using a manequin arm. You should definately listen to this at least once. Robert also does the second commentary, which is all about the music. He doesn't talk as much, as to let you hear the isolated music even better, and gives you the que on when to skip to the next chapter to hear something cool that he likes. The deleted scenes are watchable with or without commentary as well. Some of them are boring, while others should've stayed. One was kind of annoying in showing Carolina asking El what he wants in life, but it turns out to be Ajedrez. Ten Minute Flick School is the usual fare we got in El Mariachi and Desperado, and always a pleasure to watch. Here we see how they did some of the more difficult stunts and tricks without over-explaining everything like most other featurettes do. What proved to be a real treat was Ten Minute Cooking School. Here, Robert again, teaches us how to make Puerco Pibil- the meal that Sands eats at every opportunity. Robert's in his own kitchen as he shows us how to make it, and in all honesty, it looks good, and I just may have to try it out. Even in cooking, the man's full of tricks to make things even faster. Also based around his home is Inside Troublemaker Studios. Here we're treated to see all the computers and sound mixers he has in his garage. I don't know much about technological things in movie making, but I got a kick out of it, and understand how movies are made a little better. Then there's Film Is Dead, where Robert Rodriguez gives a speech about the movie and talks about what I just mentioned- how he learned a few film tricks from George Lucas with HD Cameras. Rounding things out are The Good, The Bad and The Bloody where we see where they used dummies over CG...and finally, is The Anti-Hero's Journey, which goes over the history of El briefly. Whew. That's a lotta stuff for just one disc isn't it?
The disc is loaded, and if you don't like the movie, you're sure to like something on the special features. And of course, if you're a film student, you should pratically be worshipping Rodriguez for what he's done, and learn a ton of things by checking this disc out. There's not much more to say. If you haven't seen El Mariachi or Desperado going into this, it won't make too much of a difference, but it would help a little. It takes a few plays for this one to grow onto you, as opposed to Desperado. And if all else fails, check out the picture of Salma Hayek on the box.
Rating:
Summary: entertainment as it should be
Review: I'm not usually a big fan of action movies, especially the typical ones centered around a male superhero out to save the world and bag the hot babe at the end.But like "Desperado" and "El Mariachi," Robert Rodriguez's "Once Upon A Time In America" has all the bang-bang-bang fun without the usual brain-dead male cliches and kindergarten-level myth-making. His protagonist is one bad dude all right but it's all done in a very light-hearted, cartoonish spirit refreshingly devoid of ludicrous moral pretension or pompous overbearing machismo. Sure, this film has a more convoluted plot with some populist/democratic/nationalistic subtexts if you care to look for them, but why bother when you have all the Rodriguez trademarks there in full force: black absurdist and surrealist humor, gleefully unbelievable shootouts and acrobatic stunts, wry self-parody, ten-kiloton KNOCKOUT BABES (Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek). It's not as tight as "El Mariachi" (amazing how tight a $7000 budget makes you) or "Desperado" but compared to the usual crop of Hollywood blockbusters, is an effortless standout.
Rating: 
Summary: Read the title, it tells you everything
Review: It's kind of sad to hear people rant and rave that this movie is too fake and would never happen in real life. Did they seem to just skip past the title? "Once Upon A Time" is how it starts, and the movie itself is more like a fairy tale. You can't sit there and anylise it, you just have to take it for the adventurous, high body count movie it is. Once u see past the non-sense people fill your heads with, you can tell it is a pretty good film. Not the top of the charts, and not for everyone, but a good film. Most of the credit goes to Johnny depp (as always) who seems to string everything together. I reccomend this movie if gunfights and gore doesn't bug you/ {I Realize this has been posted before, I gave it the wrong rating! This movie deserves a lot more than 1 *}
Rating: 
Summary: Good Cast Damaged by Sprawling Story: Still Depp Is Splendid
Review: Maybe you read here or somewhere else that "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" featurs Antonio Banderas as its star. No, wrong. It's real star is Johnny Depp, who steals the show in every scene he is in. In fact, you really wish that director Robert Rodriguez chopped the overlong film again, collected the Depp parts only, and re-edited it to make it far better than now. The convoluting story defies our summery, so let it be short. Antonio Banderas character is recruited by force to help the assasination of the Mexican president. The mastermind of the plan is General Marquez, but the trouble is, a CIA guy (cool and ruthless Depp) is also behind it, having its own plan to accomplish. I know screenplay writing is not what made the name of Robert Rodriguez. Still, the last of trilogy beginning from "El Mariachi" is getting more and more sprawling, damaging the imapct of the entire film. I like his gadgets; I like his style of gun-shooting; but this time he overeaches himself, intent on violence done without his grace. But the most unforgivable thing is the way of using Salma Hayek. You see her name on the second place of the credit. But the time allotted to her is so short that her appearance is slightly better than cameo (and see the poster if you have a chance, which suggests her role is more substantial than it really is). This is simply outrageous, and surely invites the criticism of being dishonest. The cast is quite unique, making a list of character actors -- Willem Defoe, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Ruben Blades, and even Mickey Rourke -- but the confusing story kills any opportunities for them to impress us. And Banderas is not particularly good, looking as if he does not know what he really wants to do. See this one as another showcase for Johnny Depp's talent. Only his role is interesting, and the final chapter is virtually made for him, in which he has to fight under the most disadvantageous condition (see for yourself). In that moment only, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" regains the thrilling moments as we once witnessed in "El Mariachi."
Rating:
Summary: Good Cast Damaged by Sprawling Story: Still Depp Is Splendid
Review: Maybe you read here or somewhere else that "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" featurs Antonio Banderas as its star. No, wrong. It's real star is Johnny Depp, who steals the show in every scene he is in. In fact, you really wish that director Robert Rodriguez chopped the overlong film again, collected the Depp parts only, and re-edited it to make it far better than now. The convoluting story defies our summery, so let it be short. Antonio Banderas character is recruited by force to help the assasination of the Mexican president. The mastermind of the plan is General Marquez, but the trouble is, a CIA guy (cool and ruthless Depp) is also behind it, having its own plan to accomplish. I know screenplay writing is not what made the name of Robert Rodriguez. Still, the last of trilogy beginning from "El Mariachi" is getting more and more sprawling, damaging the imapct of the entire film. I like his gadgets; I like his style of gun-shooting; but this time he overeaches himself, intent on violence done without his grace. But the most unforgivable thing is the way of using Salma Hayek. You see her name on the second place of the credit. But the time allotted to her is so short that her appearance is slightly better than cameo (and see the poster if you have a chance, which suggests her role is more substantial than it really is). This is simply outrageous, and surely invites the criticism of being dishonest. The cast is quite unique, making a list of character actors -- Willem Defoe, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Ruben Blades, and even Mickey Rourke -- but the confusing story kills any opportunities for them to impress us. And Banderas is not particularly good, looking as if he does not know what he really wants to do. See this one as another showcase for Johnny Depp's talent. Only his role is interesting, and the final chapter is virtually made for him, in which he has to fight under the most disadvantageous condition (see for yourself). In that moment only, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" regains the thrilling moments as we once witnessed in "El Mariachi."
Rating:
Summary: Awful, truly awful
Review: No plot, no sense, no acting, no nothing. What a let down after El Mariachi and Desperado.
Rating:
Summary: JOHHNY DEPP IS SWEET
Review: Of course i like this movie because my fav actor is in it Johnny Depp. The movie itself is interesting. Something i wouldn't watch if it didn't have Depp in it. I thought it was missing something but wasn't quite sure what .......other then that it was exciting and violent which those kind of movies get far this day in age.
Rating:
Summary: Poop I tell you! Pure Poop.
Review: Ok, that being said, first of all I think any Robert Rodriguez DVD is worth seeing because this guy gives so much to his fans and filmakers in general. I personally have been influenced by the man...that being said... About halfway through this movie, I was about ready to turn it off. Which I never do. This movie has very little to offer, and unless you were a giant fan of the previous two movies, I would avoid this third enstallment. As a film student...long ago...I picked up Rodriguez's book, and watched El Mariachi. Of course it is amazing what he was able to accomplish with $5,000.00 dollars. However I am going to tell you something. If you don't know that El Mariachi was made for $5,000.00...it isn't very good. Desperado, a remake of the first movie basically, is a high price version of a movie that isn't very good. And this final installment doesn't offer more than afew shootout scenes, a really bad plot, Tarantino wannabe dialog, and a third act that made me just want to turn the power button off on my DVD Player...The only people Rodriguez is helping out is the movie studios, who pay less money for his movies. I don't want to see a movie that one person did in his basement. I mean, maybe if its really good. But I want a soundtrack by John Williams. I want cinematography, sound design, art direction...from people who know what they are doing. Spy Kids as well, is a load of crap. Sure its made for a 5 year old. But that's no excuse for just making a movie off the top of your head and selling it as a big production... By the way...if you watch all of R's dvd's you will hear that cutting off the ham story over and over. OK! We get it! Enough with the cutting the sides of the Ham man. Its not a real hard concept to grasp! I am still waiting to see a hires digital feature that is worth a damn. (cough) George Lucas (cough!)
Rating: 
Summary: Brain candy.
Review: Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Robert Rodriguez, 2003) Man, I hate it when this happens. I watch a movie, then think about it, then think about it, then think about it some more, and still can't figure out what to say about it. This is the third movie in Robert Rodriguez' cycle about El Mariachi, the hit man forced into the profession who finds he has a taste for it. Antonio Banderas plays the lead again this time, along with a cast of usual suspects. Like the transition between El Mariachi and Desperado (about which fans still argue the remake-sequel question), Rodriguez pulls back in a number of characters from Desperado and has them play different roles (notably Cheech Marin). This one's more obviously a sequel to Desperado than Desperado was to El Mariachi, but there's still a question. In this one, El Mariachi is hired by a rogue CIA agent named Sands (Johnny Depp) to throw a monkeywrench into a plot to kill the President (Pedro Armendariz, Jr., recently in Casa de los Babys and El Crimen del Padre Amaro); Sands wants the assassination to go off as planned, but wants El Mariachi to kill the assassin after the act. The assassin is General Marquez (Gerardo Vigil), with whom El Mariachi has a long and nasty history. Throw in a spunky, discriminated-against member of the Mexican version of the ATF (Eva Mendes, who finally gets a chance to show she can act), a retired FBI agent Sands brings into play (Ruben Blades), a corrupt drug lord (Willem Dafoe) and his henchman (Mickey Rourke, with a completely unrecognizable deep southern drawl), and a guy playing every side in the game (Danny Trejo), and what you have is an undeniable mess. Desperado was a mess, too, and it worked gloriously in spite (or because of) its lack of plot or coherence. Things blew up, Salma Hayek was hot, blood flew everywhere, that was pretty much all anyone cared about. Now, almost ten years later, we have Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which seems to be attempting to make up for its predecessor's shortcomings. The problem with this is that no one cared about its predecessor's shortcomings. Blood still flies, and Salma Hayek still looks hot. But there's a plot. In fact, there's too much of a plot. All the twists and turns in here could have easily filled a three-hour film with no room to spare, but Rodriguez crams everything into just over half that. We spend too much of the time just wondering what's going on, rather than spending the time trying to figure out who's double-dealing whom. But with that aside, Johnny Depp is still a fabulous actor to watch, and delivers his material here with a deadpan that does Bogart proud. Willem Dafoe is one of Hollywood's unrecognized geniuses, and I doubt he's had this much fun with any other role in his career, except maybe Boondock Saints. Danny Trejo is always a pleasure to watch. Eva Mendes really CAN act. And I had to rewatch the scenes with Mickey Rourke three times before I got my mind around the fact that that voice was coming out of the raspy, squeaky guy from Angel Heart. And he no longer looks exactly like Bruce Willis, either. Basically, watch it for the same reasons you watched Desperado. The blood flies (though there's not as much of it this go-round), lots of things blow up, the women are drop-dead gorgeous and like beating guys up, and the plot is, well, existent but incoherent. Sit back, turn your brain off, dig into the popcorn, and enjoy the ride. ***
|
