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Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $15.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Superstupid.
Review: This movie is terrible. It's so bad I couldn't even watch all of it. The action scenes and stunts and shootouts are so campy and cheesy they look like outtakes from old episodes of "Acapulco HEAT," that horribly cheesy early 90's TV show starring Fabio and some random talentless Baywatch types.

The acting--yes, even Johnny Depp's acting--is bottom-of-the-barrel. Despite what you may have heard, Depp does NOT redeem this movie. His acting is just as bad as everyone else's.

The script is cheesier than Wisconsin, the dialogue is third grade, and the whole thing is a mess.

"Shoot the cook?" No..... shoot the director, shoot the producers, shoot the writers, shoot the actors...... leave the poor cook alone.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Superstupid.
Review: This movie is terrible. It's so bad I couldn't even watch all of it. The action scenes and stunts and shootouts are so campy and cheesy they look like outtakes from old episodes of "Acapulco HEAT," that horribly cheesy early 90's TV show starring Fabio and some random talentless Baywatch types.

The acting--yes, even Johnny Depp's acting--is bottom-of-the-barrel. Despite what you may have heard, Depp does NOT redeem this movie. His acting is just as bad as everyone else's.

The script is cheesier than Wisconsin, the dialogue is third grade, and the whole thing is a mess.

"Shoot the cook?" No..... shoot the director, shoot the producers, shoot the writers, shoot the actors...... leave the poor cook alone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Action Film
Review: This movie just keeps on going and going and going... A great action film with a mythic hero, lots of action, some good acting and brialliant and colourful photography! Lots of fun!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Run quick, save yourself.
Review: This movie was such a waste of time. It gets a half star for having semi-decent shootouts and another for a great perfomance by Johnny Depp. Personally though, if you want gunfights you'd do better by renting a John Woo film. By the way whose idea was it to give Enrique a gun. With that said rent at your own risk.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not a great sequal
Review: This movie was supposed to be a sequal for Desperado, however with the exception of Antonio Banderas being EL Meriachi, and a few glimpses at Salma Hayek it was a dissapointing and almost unrealated sequal to Desperado. Once upon a Time in Mexico was more of a seperate movie that tied with the Desperado legend. However this movie did have great action sequences and besides not continuing Desperado directly was a good movie to watch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Sequel to "Desperado"
Review: This sequel to Desperado is absolutely great. Antonio Banderas plays the outstanding role of a man with great respect for life and love, yet troubled by memories and a thirst for vengance that curdles within his soul. There are several extraordinary twists with pretty boy Enrique Iglesias and nonchalant Johnny Depp, but this is definitely a great action/drama film. Once you watch it, you'll want to buy it. And if you do buy it, get the Superbit Edition DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Flick!!
Review: This was my favorite movie of all time. Amazing direction combined with special effects that will blow your mind, this movie is a must own. To say that you need to have seen the first two to like this one is untrue. I saw it before I even knew that it was the third in a series and I still loved it. Anyone who says that it doesn't have a plot is a complete liar. You just have to pay attention to what's happening. Oh, Horrors. If you didn't understand this movie, you weren't paying attention enough. Se it again. Great DVD with awesome special features including a "ten minute cooking school" that explains how to make a tasty dish featured in the film. I myself have made it twice. It also includes a walkthrough of TROUBLEMAKER STUDIOS that is unbelievable. For any action-mystery lover, this film is a must.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: shot,chopped and scored...
Review: WOW! I have just watched Once upon a time in Mexico for the second time in a row today!I rented it mainly because any movie with johnny depp in it intrests me as he is my fave actor. Boy was I not disappointed! Johnny was fantastic! Funny, sexy, scary, intresting....is there nothing he cnt do! Not only was Johnny Depp amazing but I found myself enthralled by the story and the whole legacy of El Mariachi. How cool is this film? I think cool is the word to describe this film as it doesn't take itself too seriously but still manages to be taken seriously. It's basically just fun all the way with intersting characters, fantastic shootouts and the coolest accessory eva. Who would have thought a guitar case could be so effective? I loved the music and how Banderas plays even in the middle of a shootout. Intersting fact did u know that Johnny Depp scored his own theme for Agent Sands called Sands theme? He plays the guitar himself.
For anyone in need of a thouraghly entertaining film watch this movie. It will get u talking about it for ages just like me.. I'm off to watch El Mariachi and Desperado now......

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Snap out of it Banderas!!!
Review: You know what a good definition of a crime is? A crime is when you have Salma Hayek in a movie and don't use her. A crime is when you have an action movie and there are long non-action sequences that aren't very interesting. A crime is when you have Antonio Banderas, who is so good doing a part like this, trying to do too many other things (okay, that's a crime that too many other movies committed, not this movie). Which movie am I talking about? Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the culprit. This is a stylish movie in the same vein as his earlier Desperado and El Mariachi, but it's not quite as good.

One of the problems is the plot. It's convoluted even for an action flick. Desperado was easy. A drug kingpin who El Mariachi (Banderas) was after for personal reasons controls a town, and our hero has to fight him. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, however, is much more political, with the president of Mexico in line for assassination. A rogue CIA agent (Johnny Depp), instead of trying to stop it, is trying to profit from it by asking El Mariachi to kill the leader of the rebel army in charge of the assassination (Gerardo Vigil), who also happens to be the man who killed El Mariachi's wife (Salma Hayek). Confused? I still am, and I watched the thing. He also sets a retired FBI agent (Reuben Blades) after Barillo (Willem Defoe), who is the drug kingpin who had the agent's partner tortured and murdered. So, basically, everybody's supposed to die, and the CIA agent is supposed to get something out of all this? I actually thought I understood it a little bit until I tried to explain it.

While the plot is very murky, the action set-pieces are great. Unrealistic, but they usually are in movies like this. That's part of the charm. Banderas falls of a church balcony, shooting upward and killing his assailant, then lands on his back and just rolls over and gets up. You don't watch these things for the realism, however. You watch them for the style. Rodriguez has style in spades, and the scenes are very enjoyable to watch. Head shots, leg shots, blood flying every where. Bodies jumping, in a graceful pirouette as the bullets spatter, it's all great. Especially good is the shootout in the church, especially when they all pause to let the little old woman who hasn't reacted to this at all get out of the line of fire.

There's just not enough of them. Instead, Banderas broods. Then he broods again. I guess he has to brood a lot, because Rodriguez has to justify Hayek's salary. She only appears in flashbacks of the good times, and the time where she is killed (which is repeated a number of times). She's the only beauty in this tough film (there is one other woman, Eva Mendez, but while she's quite beautiful, she's tough as nails), so we need the occasional interlude. When Banderas isn't brooding, Depp is plotting. Occasionally, Defoe is plotting. Even more occasionally, Blades is plotting. Then we get back to Depp plotting. Do you get the idea that there's a lot of plotting going on? Everybody double-crosses at least one other person in this film.

So much for the plot. How's the acting? Given the nature of the film, it's actually quite good. Banderas was born for this role, and it's a shame he doesn't do things like this more often. He might actually make a name for himself. He broods quite well (despite the fact that I think he's made to do too much of it, he's very good at it). Hayek doesn't do anything to really justify her being second billing in the movie, but that's hardly her fault. She's barely in it. Depp is a virtuoso as usual, too bad his character is completely incomprehensible. He acts insane at times (like his first scene which begins a running joke about his favourite dish down in Mexico). He's hardly undercover (he wears a "CIA Agent" t-shirt at one point) and he seems superfluous to the whole thing. It's only Depp's acting which makes his role even watchable. Nobody else is given much to do, though I have to single out Mickey Rourke as really annoying. His character is even worse. That may be because I just don't like watching Rourke, however. I also have to mention Cheech Marin. It seems like he's in every Robert Rodriguez movie (though I don't know about the Spy Kids franchise), and every time he meets a bad end. One's given a bit of hope in this one, but to no avail. He plays his part really well, and I started to feel sorry for him when I realized that there's no way he's going to survive. It's sort of like Steve Buscemi in a Coen Brothers movie: no chance. It's actually quite funny.

If you've followed the El Mariachi series, then it's worth it to pick this one up. The action scenes are worth it if you're already a fan. Just be prepared to be puzzled by the plot. This certainly is not a good place to start your Rodriguez journey, however.

David Roy

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Enjoyable, Stylized Comic Action Flick
Review: You might have to be in a certain frame of mind to enjoy ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. It is a quirky, stylized flick from Robert Rodriguez that should not be taken seriously at all. The third in the El Mariachi series, the plot while complex (and ultimately unimportant) is much more understandable than DESPERADO (1995).
Antonio Banderas reprises his role as El Mariachi, the cool, seemingly detached anti-hero. He has retired from his life of violence. His reasons are given in flashback with Salma Hayek. Johnny Depp, extremely funny as the bizarre Agent Sands, draws Banderas back into the conflict. Sands appears to be a villain, but he does ultimately redeem himself. Willem Dafoe is the despicable drug lord Barillo. He spends much of his time in bandages, which I found amusing since he was nemesis to the bandaged Ralph Fiennes in THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996). Danny Trejo and Mickey Roarke play two different kinds of henchman. Trejo embraces the life of crime, while Roarke with his pet Chihuahua wants no more of than to go back to the US and retire. Eva Mendes is a lovely, untrustworthy agent. Ruben Blades, Cheech Marin, Enrique Iglesias, and Pedro Armendariz as El Presidente also appear in key roles.
There are many features on the dvd. You look at Rodriguez's studio, learn about cgi and non-cgi special effects, and are given a ten minute cooking lesson by Rodriguez on the character Sands' favorite dish, puerco pibil, slow roasted pork.
All in all, the movie is highly enjoyable in a Sergio Leone way. Even the title harkens back to Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984). So don't think too hard, just enjoy.


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