Once Upon a Time in Mexico / Desperado 2 (2003)

Once Upon a Time in Mexico / Desperado 2 (2003)

3/10

Starring

Antonio Banderas

Salma Hayek

Johnny Depp

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (or Desperado 2) is a total bullcrap of a movie. Released eight years after Desperado (1995), it’s the final installment in the Mexico Trilogy. This movie wastes too much time focusing on everything except what matters. It feels like El Mariachi is just a supporting character in his own story.

The tale follows El Mariachi’s journey from the first movie through the second, but this one is overly stuffed with too many characters and subplots.
The running theme of him being lonely and seeking revenge for his lost love is the same here, but this time it feels old and overdone.

You have to stay on your toes in this movie because the plot is all over the place. It starts with a man obsessed with killing El Mariachi, which led to the death of his woman (Salma Hayek) from the second film. I think they just did not have the money for her character any more and wrote her off.
This backstory is told to another man (Johnny Depp), who wants to capture El Mariachi for his own shady plans. He succeeds early in the movie, but El Mariachi, though heartbroken over his lover’s death, is revitalized when he’s pointed toward revenge, like every action movie hero.

Johnny Depp’s character is just as dubious—he wants to control everything and uses everyone to achieve his ultimate goal. On top of that, there’s a gangster boss who’s into facial reconstructive surgery to stay alive and maintain his power.
You’d think that’s enough, but more subplots keep popping up, making the movie feel cumbersome and overly complicated.

I have one question for Robert Rodriguez: what happened to plain and simple?
That was the magic of the first two movies—they were straightforward and easy to follow. I didn’t have to worry about coups, facial reconstructive surgery, or Johnny Depp’s convoluted schemes. This movie tries so hard to be more than it should be.

Then there’s Eva Mendes, whose sole purpose in this movie is to introduce the facial reconstruction guy and then die later on.
Our hero has gone political, and if you think he’s all about madness with no love for his country, think again, my friend.

Don’t bother watching this final movie in the trilogy.

While the movie did make money for the studio, the ratio of box office returns to the production budget is much lower compared to Desperado (1995).