Once Upon a Time in Mexico

One of Robert Rodriguez's first movies shot on high definition video once again proves that sequels can be just as good or better than the originals. This movie is the conclusion to Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, with El Mariachi being pulled into a plot to prevent the Mexican government from being overrun by a corrupt Mexican general. This movie was actually my first exposure to Rodriguez's trilogy and it hooked me immediately. The visuals are spectacular and I instantly loved the characters.

For having shot this movie in such a short amount of time, it looks awesome. You're treated to beautiful shots of Mexican landscape and architecture, right before it gets shot up in some great gun battles. In some of these scenes, you'd never think that a most (if not all) of the bullets and architecture damage were added digitally, although it makes bullet-hole continuity a pain (if you pay attention to that sort of thing). This movie shows that Rodriguez has a serious gift for putting together great action scenes (see Mariachi and Carolina's escape from the hotel).

The cast in this movie rocked. This movie continues to show why Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors. His role as Agent Sands, the corrupt CIA agent, was definitely one of the best parts of this movie, adding most of the humor (and in the final 20 minutes, he makes for one of the coolest looking movie characters I've seen in a long time). Of course, Sands wasn't the only character in the movie. Antonio Banderas continues to rule as El, and Willem Dafoe (another favorite actor of mine) rounds out the key players as the ruler of the local drug cartel. You know an actor's good when he can believably pull off playing another race. If I hadn't seen Dafoe in others movie previously, I could believe he was Mexican (which is amazing seeing as how the man doesn't speak Spanish). We also get superb performances from supporting players Eva Mendes, Rueben Blades, Mickey Rourke, Danny Trejo, and Enrique Iglesias.

I can honestly say that Rodriguez's final Mariachi installment is one of my favorite action movies. It was enough to hook me on a trilogy I had seen nothing of previously and had no background before watching. A fast-paced action flick with a great story (and equally good soundtrack). Plus, if you have the DVD, make sure you check out the special features to see just how passionate Rodriguez is about his craft.