El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) is back again, this time with far more intense vengeance on his mind. A lot has happened since we last saw El and Carolina (Salma Hayek) in Desperado and all of this plays out through the film via a series of flashbacks. El and Carolina have since married and had a daughter and Carolina is often seen with El on his violent rampages, throwing the very knives we saw Navajas (Danny Trejo) launching at El in Desperado. What we learn is that El is once again on a vengeful tear, this time to avenge the deaths of Carolina and his young daughter, slain at the hands of General Marquez (Gerardo Vigil), who was once tricked by Carolina and subsequently shot by her and left for dead.
Now the General is back in El Mariachi's life as he is at the center of a plot to overthrow El Presidente (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) by the leader of a drug cartel, Barillo (Willem Dafoe). Helping to orchestrate this plot is corrupt CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp), who plays the role of puppet master, pitting El against Barillo. Also in the mix is federales turncoat Ajedres (Eva Mendes), who has her own reasons for siding with Barillo and helping with the plot. Retired FBI agent Jorge (Ruben Blades) is lured into trying to expose the plot by having one last chance to capture the elusive Barillo and his right hand man, Dr. Guevera, who once tortured and killed his partner. Warily watching it all happen is Barillo's reluctant assistant, Billy (Mickey Rourke).
Where there's smoke, there's fire and where there's El Mariachi and his band of trigger-happy men, there's explosions and bloodshed. El Mariachi, along with bandmates hot-headed Lorenzo (Enrique Iglesias) and super-drunk Fideo (Marco Leonardi), set out to save El Presidente by foiling Sands and Barillo's plot, while dishing up a chilly meal of revenge for General Marquez. What's funny is by the end, the bad guys get what's coming to them, but you find yourself rooting for Sands because he's just such a funny and interesting character.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico is just a fun Robert Rodriguez shoot-em-up and there's no denying it. While it will never win any best picture awards, that's not why you watch a Rodriguez film and Once Upon a Time in Mexico delivers what it sets out to bring - a fun, super violent, funny movie with a host of great actors in unique roles. Johnny Depp is fantastic, as always, and is a true joy to watch as the despicable Sands. Banderas and Hayek are magic together and its fun to see them get to do some of the amazing stunts that Rodriguez wasn't able to cram into Desperado.
As for special features, there are plenty and they are all worth checking out. There's another one of Rodriguez's "10 Minute Film Schools", plus a "10 Minute Cooking School" where he makes the dish Sands kills for in the movie. There's a really interesting piece where Rodriguez spoke at what I assume is a film school about his style, a featurette on the special FX he uses, one where Rodriguez gives a tour of Troublemaker Studios (his awesome home studio), one on the anti-heroes his films are known for and finally, audio commentary and "The Cutting Room", where you can edit pieces of the film yourself and post them on the net.
If you are going to add this film to your collection, Blu-ray is the way to go. It looks and sounds spectacular in high def and this is the kind of film that simply begs for the beauty and depth of high def. While the only special feature that comes exclusive to Blu-ray is "The Cutting Room", something mainly for budding filmmakers, the visuals alone are reason to go high def over standard DVD. If you need a Rodriguez-styled action flick fix, look no further.
