Once Upon a Time in Mexico  (2003)

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Rubén Blades, Danny Trejo, Eva Mendez, Willem Dafoe

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Rating: R

Distributor: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 20, 2004
Review posted: January 21, 2004

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

SYNOPSIS

Hitman "El Mariachi" (Banderas) becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent (Depp) and a corrupt Mexican general. Courtesy of IMDb.

CRITIQUE

Once Upon a Time in Mexico was completed in 2001, but arrived in theatres only during the summer of last year. Perhaps during the time in-between director Robert Rodriguez should've shot new scenes or something, because the final film in the El Mariachi trilogy is not as good as I hoped it would be. Considering Rodriguez worked on Spy Kids 3, I knew he wouldn't be able to do it. It seems like he really rushed this film, and I'm not talking about the number of shooting days.

OUATIM got the action, humor, and entertainment value. There is no argument against Rodriguez not knowing action. In fact, he shoots it with terrific style. Stunts are also pretty neat, and the many explosions and gunfights should give viewers all the "entertainment" they could ask for. On some occasions the action seems a little heavy-handed, coming off as forced, but they still have that certain value. In spite of this, OUATIM lacks mystery. There really isn't much suspense to speak of, which is a problem because this film needs it. The story here is much broader and the scope is bigger than the preceding films, yet by trying to up the ante on seemingly all levels, it seems like Rodriguez forgot to make the story worth following to the end. As it is, the story is somewhat muddled.

Fine, the story concerns the attempt of a drug lord, Barillo (Willem Dafoe), trying to overthrow the Mexican president. Somehow, El Mariachi (Banderas) himself gets involved. Interestingly enough, a rogue CIA agent is, too. The agent is Sands, played to perfection by Johnny Depp. He makes Sands an outstanding, funny, and diabolical character; memorable, to say the least. He delivers his lines both funny and menacingly. As a matter of fact, his lines are the only ones worth quoting, and the t-shirts he wears are just hilarious.

Yet he overshadows the character of Mariachi, who I think should've been the center of the story. Instead, Mariachi feels like a supporting character, only involved in the conspiracy because of his "status". He shares some flashback scenes with Salma Hayek's Carolina, but their background story doesn't fit in very well to the proceedings at large. On the other hand, I was quite intrigued by the character of Jorge, a former FBI agent out to take revenge on Barillo, played to great extent by Rubén Blades. When only two out of twelve characters are appealing, no amount of familiar faces or extended cameos will help matters much.

In general, Once Upon a Time in Mexico managed to entertain me for most of the duration; the action did a good job of that. I'm not saying the film is wholly disappointing, only parts of it are. Therefore, I'm only recommending it to fans of the trilogy. There are better action films out there, although I can't think of one featuring a very fun and malicious bad guy. In this case, that bad guy is Johnny "Jack Sparrow" Depp.

THE VIDEO

Columbia presents Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. For some reason this transfer doesn't include the original theatrical aspect ratio, which was 2.35:1, but the framing of this 1.78:1 ratio looks just fine. Shot with hi-definition digital cameras, the image quality looks pretty good. Colors are bright and well-balanced. Detail appears in good shape, and sharpness looks fine. Black levels are good. I didn't notice much grain and didn't spot any compression artifacts. Overall, a very nice looking presentation.

THE AUDIO

Columbia presents Once Upon a Time in Mexico in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Here things get interesting. This soundtrack was mixed inside Robert Rodriguez's house. That is, he mixed it himself through his Troublemaker Studios company. As far as the presentation goes, it's a job very well done. Surrounds come alive many times during the show, and the rear speakers enforce the sound effects with crisp and solid tenacity. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, very nicely reproduced across the two front channels. Rodriguez's score sounds off nicely as well. Overall, a pretty good soundtrack presentation.

Also available is a French Dolby Digital dub track.

THE EXTRAS

With this release there is no one main supplement. All of the extras are special. The participation of Rodriguez on this release is evident right from the beginning, and it's great to see the filmmaker get behind the film on DVD. Let's start at the beginning.

First are two commentary tracks. Track 1 is a feature-length commentary by Robert Rodriguez. He gives insightful comments and provides recollections from the production. He also offers listeners some nice trivia, and he hardly pauses to take a breath. Some of the information here is repetitive once you watch the extras, but that's alright. Fans of the Mariachi trilogy or Mexico will want to check out this track. Track 2 is an isolated music and sound design commentary by Rodriguez. Most of the track features the score, and sometimes you'll also hear the sound effects sounding off in this 5.1 presentation. The actual commentary comes in sparingly, but this feature is generally helpful nevertheless.
 

Next are no less than six featurettes. Here is a little about each of them.

Ten-Minute Flick School (9:03) is a fast-paced, informative, insightful, and fun look at the production. Rodriguez narrates the featurette that includes revealing on-set footage.

Inside Troublemaker Studios (11:20) offers viewers an intimate look, so to speak, at Rodriguez's editing studio inside his garage. It's interesting to read about his additional jobs on the film, being the composer, editor, and cameraman, but actually seeing him demonstrate it is quite rewarding.

Ten-Minute Cooking School (5:47) sees Rodriguez preparing puerco pibil, the main dish featured in the film, and giving cooking tips. Kind of fun to watch, but nothing special.

More or less, The Anti-Hero's Journey (18:01) is the obligatory piece featuring interviews and praise. Still, it's watchable, especially with the select amount of cool on-set footage. Aside from Rodriguez, the actors participating in the interviews are Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Salma Hayek.

Film Is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez (13:16) is a Q&A program held during the summer of 2003. Rodriguez discusses his use of digital cameras and a few other things. A lot of the information here is already covered in the commentary, which makes this featurette a bit too repetitive.

The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX (19:01) focuses on the studio's work on the film, creating the special make-up effects, such as Agent Sands' fake arm and Cheech Marin's dummy. This featurette is done very well; definitely worth watching.

If that's not enough, the DVD also includes 8 Deleted Scenes (7:14) with optional commentary by Rodriguez. He explains why most of the scenes got cut. These scenes don't add much to the film, but there are some funny moments with Depp.

In an unexpected move, two promos/trailers run as the DVD loads up. This is new for Columbia, and I can only hope this approach won't last. Rounding out the extras is the film's theatrical trailer, a handful of bonus trailers, filmographies for the major players, and two ultimately expendable DVD-ROM interactive games (one is a shooting gallery, the other a card game).

You can select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The 102-minute feature is organized into twenty-eight chapters.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Robert Rodriguez delivers a fine entertainment ride with Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The action is sometimes over the top, but it's fun to watch. In terms of the story, the film deserved a little more depth and mystery. The film is almost worth seeing for Johnny Depp alone. Columbia's DVD release is very generous, offering clear video, solid audio, and a handful of informative extras. The DVD comes highly recommended.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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