Cheap Once Upon a Time in Mexico (UMD mini for PSP) (DVD) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Once Upon a Time in Mexico (UMD mini for PSP)

Thrice Upon a Theme in Hollywood
A disappointment. I was pleasantly surprised by Rodriguez's first film in the trilogy, El Mariachi: an independent effort in the good sense of the word, with signs of originality, some authentic atmosphere, and -- most unusual in the thriller genre -- even a little bit of heart. I should have stopped there, I guess, or maybe checked out the second in the series, Desperado (which I haven't seen). <
> <
>In the interim, Rodriguez had clearly become a "bankable" writer/director/you name it. (According to the credits he seems to have had a hand in almost every creative aspect of the film; you get the feeling the only reason he didn't design the costumes was lack of time.) <
> <
>Certainly various parties must have shoved huge wads of bills in each of his pockets and told him, go forth and multiply our money. <
> <
>Once Upon a Time in Mexico has all the hallmarks of a big-budget action picture, which today primarily means lots of computer-generated effects plus high-profile stars. None of the latter offer much to appreciate, and Johnny Depp is nearly unwatchable with an absurdly fey, oh-so-ironic performance as a bent CIA agent. The only decent performance is by Ruben Blades, who brings some inwardness and dignity to his role as a retread FBI agent. <
> <
>Rodriguez hasn't entirely lost his aptitude: there are cinematic coups here and there, and once in a while when the movie slows down to catch its breath between bloodbaths it becomes almost human. But way too much of the action is just a calculated, routine splatterfest in a sub-Peckinpah mode.

---

Violent, very funny, over the top and absurd.
<
>In a cast of many fine actors Johnny Depp steals the show. <
>Set in modern day the movie starts with Johnny Depp (a CIA agent named Sands) talking to his informant (Cheech Marin) about a mythical figure a gunslinger and guitarist named El Mariachi (Antonio Bandaras) in order to find him to help him carry out his plan. The plan? Well, the plan is convoluted to say the least. It involves the assassination of the Mexican president and the killing of a sadistic general (who killed El Mariachi's wife and child) who is protected by a powerful and equally sadistic drug lord Barillo (played by William DaFoe). The general wants to over throw the President, somthing Sands is all for, but he wants the general dead as well. The assignment given to El Mariachi by Depp's character is to in the confusion of the coup kill the general something which El Mariachi would be more than pleased to do. The culmination of all of the action takes place on the Mexican Day of the Dead. <
>Agent Sands is a busy little spook. From there Sands meets up with retired FBI agent Jorge (played by Ruben Blades). Agent Jorge has some of his own unfinished business as he had spent years trying to track down Barillo but Jorge declines Sands prodding to take out Barillo at least at first until Agent Sands reminds Jorge  about what Barillo had done to the FBI agent's partner. Here the stage is set. <
>Are you confused already?  If you watch this movie prepared to become confused even more as the story takes more twists than an epileptic snake. However if you like action movies this movie is worth ever minute. <
>Depp continues to weave in an out of the story doing his best as the quirky, creepy, wisecracking sadistic runt who tries to be the puppet master. In the end even Agent Sands shows a heroic side in a type of "high noon" that is in and of itself worth the price of the movie. The climax of the movie explodes in violence and in wildly beautiful and dramatic images with a few touches of the absurd thrown in. The score is beautiful but sometimes overpowers the dialogue. <
>A guilty pleasure that I highly recommend.

---

Am I missing something?
This was a mess of a movie! The story was wishy washy and the plot was dull. The action was what makes this movie worth watching. Some downright chezzy action scenes make for a good laugh. If I had to recommend one Robert Rodriguez flick I would rate From Dusk Till Dawn much better.