KCR: Once Upon a Time in Mexico (movie)

Cover via AmazonOnce Upon a Time in Mexico was not supposed to be a coherent tale, as the plot was so ****ing convoluted, about who's on which side, who is fighting whom, and so on, it's utterly ridiculous. There's  a passel full of good guys, bad guys, and somewhere in between.

However, the action is good enough that you can almost forgive the lousy plot. ALMOST, but not quite.

The setup: Sands (Johnny Depp) is a CIA agent trying to play the middleman instigating a coup to overthrow the Mexican government by drawing out "El Mariachi" (Banderas) from retirement after death of his wife Carolina (Selma Hayak) and daughter. He needs El Mariachi to kill General Marquez (who killed his wife and daughter). He also instigates ex-FBI guy to go after Barillo (William Defoe), a local drug lord, while trying to convince Ajedrez (Eva Mendez) to join him. Marquez had been trying to kill El Mariachi for a LONG time, for stealing his woman, and Barillo cartel kills everybody in their way. So in between you get El Mariachi shooting everybody trying to kill him, Sands trying to get his revenge after being betrayed, and a revolution his the coup head-on. I told you it's convoluted.

Selma Hayak does not appear in this movie except in a few dream sequences. She and Eva Mendez are the eye candy here to balance out William Defoe and Danny Trejo. Bandera, as usual, is his suave self, almost in his Zorro mode, except he's a "pistolero".

There's a TON of physical impossibilities, and lousy props  (hey, you can't silence a revolver! and what's with that machine gun that can shoot without any sort of ammo box or ammo belt?)

The characters are paper-thin, but then, this is an action movie. And who knew that Enrique Iglesias can do so well as a pistolero?

Rating: Watch it once, then watch the extras (if available).

KCR: Desperado (movie, Antonio Banderas)

Cover via AmazonDesperado is what "El Mariachi" should have been. Robert Rodriguez made "El Mariachi" in 1992 for $7000, by doing all his own editing and filming, and doing everything in one take (and edit out the mistakes by cut away to some other shot). The plot was a bit confusing, but it is great filmmaking nonetheless. Desperado is done in 1995 with a proper American budget (7 million, still cheap) and proper stars like Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayak (practically her intro to American cinema), Steve Buscemi, and pushed by Quentin Tarantino (who guest starred). The result is as stylish as any Hong Kong production, albeit not quite as polished, with typical "Hollywood" physics, like people driven back 10 ft from a little cut-off shotgun hit, and so on.

The story is about as cliched as well. "El Mariachi" (Banderas), the legendary vigilante with guns in a guitar case, is looking for "Bucho", and he seem to be killing his way across Mexico to find Bucho, who is a drug lord. Along the way, he ran into the beautiful Carolina (Hayak), and there will be a big shootout at the end, as you can expect, after a few plot twists.

The plot is cliche, and vigilante justice is hard to accept for some, but for entertainment and action, this movie delivers... However, it has that "hey, look what I can do!" feel that somehow felt out of place.