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I saw Robert Rodriguez's
"Once
Upon a Time in Mexico" today. I'd really been
looking forward to it. I first saw "El Mariachi"
years ago and became a Rodriguez fan. Then came "Desparado,"
and "Dusk Til Dawn" and Rodriguez
was on the "A" list. So when Rodriguez
decided to create an epic "Mariachi" film,
he was able to get Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke,
Reuben Blades, Willem Dafoe, to join the returning
Antonio Bandaras, Salema Hayek, and Danny
Trejo.
With a cast like that and
Rodriguez at the helm, it just had to be good, right?
Yeah, but I was really hoping it would be so much better.
Bandaras is back as THE Marichi but
this time he's gonna save Mexico.
Ok, cool. An epic film should
have a huge story and what could be bigger than saving your
country? [Yeah, Bond would save the world but this
isn't Bond.] So the story idea works.
Next there are a bunch of
characters. Johnny Depp steals every scene as a rogue
CIA agent. Mickey Rourke has an interesting
role as American criminal who has escaped to Mexico
and has joined Willem Dafoe's cartel. Both Rourke
and Dafoe are under-used. Dafoe plans to take
over Mexico by bankrolling a coup using an evil General.
The General killed Bandaras'... hey!
Wake Up!
Yeah, now I see the problem.
Although there's a huge storyline and a lot of interesting
characters, the story kind of bottoms out. Still, it was
fun and ya gotta love the action... and did I mention that
Johnny Depp absolutely rules in this movie? Overall
I'll give it a "C."
On a side note - there was
a preview for a movie starring Jack Nicholson, and
Diane Keaton. Jack Nicholson's line, "We're
not all doctors, baby" left me laughing out loud. You
have to see it, since telling it wouldn't be as funny, but
when you do see it, make sure you're not drinking anything!
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Remembering
three who died: