Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Director Robert Rodriguez unleashes this latest part to the El Mariachi saga by bringing in Johnny Depp to prop up an otherwise dull drama. Depp is a CIA agent in Mexico to prevent the rise to power of General Marquez, whose army is being bankrolled by cartel king Barillo (Willem Dafoe), after a planned assassination of the President. To accomplish this, Depp recruits people far and wide to do the dirty work. The principal figure in this is, of course, El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), who has lived in his home village ever since Marquez killed his wife and daughter and El was merely shot. Now he's out for revenge and this is the perfect opportunity. Depp also involves a retired FBI agent, whose partner was killed by Barillo, and Eva Mendes as the police officer who doesn't get any respect from her peers.

The first two installments of "El Mariachi" and "Desperado" had an air of confidence when you watched it. El Mariachi stood before the face of danger and shot it to pieces in simple stories of bad vs. badder. But here, Rodriguez, who wrote, shot, scored, and directed the film, tries to spin a tale worthy of epic proportions, a lofty goal that both complicates the plot with its twists and turns, that moves away from the brilliant gunfights that highlighted the first two films, and even shifted the story away from its main character. Even though the action was few and far between and sometimes inexplicable as to its motive (i.e. Banderas and Hayek chained together and swinging down a building), Rodriguez always had an eye for these types of things and is well-done. As for the performances, most do wel with what they're given. Hayek gets something like 5 minutes of screen time. Depp's distinctive style seems inventive and fresh until the material blindly tries to mine laughs out of his predicament. And Banderas, who is who he is, a gunfighter and patriot to the end. 2 stars.