Film Reviews

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

• Rating:
• Director: Robert Rodriguez.
• Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Cheech Marin, Willem Dafoe, and Pedro Armendariz Jr.
• Details: US / 101 mins / (15PG).

Fresh from his scenery chewing antics in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Johnny Depp continues his unlikely mid-career resurgence as a comedy action hero with another marvellous performances in Robert Rodriguez's delightfully over the top neo-western 'Once Upon A Time In Mexico'. Depp's not the only thing to enjoy about this chaotic, desperately entertaining homage disguised as a film, which wears its rambunctious heart stitched onto its sleeve. Sands (Depp) is a maverick CIA agent stationed out old Mexico way. A duplicitous individual, he learns about the exploits of the mythical El Mariachi (Banderas) from a boozy barman (Marin). Realising that he could make some hard 'n' fast greenbacks from a fortuitous set of murderous circumstances which involve the corrupt Mexican President (Armendariz Jr) and a high level drug dealer (Dafoe), Sands decides to find El Mariachi, still mourning the death of his wife (Hayek) and daughter. From here things in the narrative department get a little muddled as the movie contains more crosses than the Vatican, doubling back on itself with a reckless vigour. Picking holes in the plot lines of 'Once Upon A Time in Mexico' is comparable to shooting fish in a barrel. Yet the audacity and kinetic energy employed by Rodriguez means the movie never suffers from languid pacing, while the infectious silliness of the endeavour is embraced by the performers whose tongues are so tightly wedged in their cheeks that it's a wonder they can even enunciate their lines. Not to be taken remotely seriously, Rodriguez's movie is told in brash, broad strokes with a refreshingly amoral underbelly. Indeed, the director seems far too interested in the challenge of composing another gloriously inventive action sequence to be remotely concerned with trite matters like emotion resonance. Batten down the hatches and enjoy the ride.

Review by Garreth Murphy