“Once Upon A Time in Mexico” (2003) [R]

     2003 was a decent year for the cinema industry, with the finishing of the “Lord of the Rings” and the beginning of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. At the top of the list of the best movies of 2003 is the Robert Rodriguez film “Once Upon A Time in Mexico.” It is the conclusion to his “El Mariachi” trilogy starring Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Mickey Rourke. Each of these actors gave incredible performances, although Depp almost steals the show with his witty character. It is almost too obviously a tribute to Sergio Leone’s “Man with no name” trilogy, and does a very good job of being a sort of hats-off to Leone’s trilogy. The script was incredible and clever with coatings of dark humor. If there’s any reason not to watch this show, it would be that there are a few scenes that are not for the queasy types.
     This movie couldn’t go wrong with the major cast that it had. Antonio Banderas returns as the “el mariachi” character and shows that he will never tire of the role. Dafoe and Rourke also give amazing enactments as the greedy and murderous villains. However, Johnny Depp nearly steals the spotlight as the entertaining character. He plays an F.B.I. agent whose debut to the trilogy is this final installment. His performance as the agent is possibly one of his best yet and will forever stay near the top of that list. It’s not by actor’s roles alone, however, that makes this film an exciting one.

     In the sixties Sergio Leone released a trilogy of westerns known to many as the “Man with no name” trilogy which features Clint Eastwood. The third in that trilogy is entitled “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” and it was a turning point for spaghetti westerns throughout the world. Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi” trilogy is clearly his tribute to Leone’s own trilogy, and “Once Upon A Time in Mexico” is the most interesting one from Rodriguez. His trilogy is much like Leone’s because it too is very western style, and it features actors who can easily portray the “tough-guy” act. Another similarity between the two trilogies is that each installment doesn’t really have much to do with their sibling installments; each one is its own movie, and they do well on individually.

     As I always say, one of the most important things to look for in a movie is how well the script is written, and this one is incredible. Full of clever and dark humor, it could almost be read as a story by itself. There are several ingenious gadgets which belong to Depp’s agent character, and he makes devastating and slightly comical use of each of his gadgets. The dialogue and action competes well with many top-of-the-line productions, and the story itself is almost a tragic sort of action tale. The tragedy and suspense hides around every corner of what might be Rodriquez’s best movie to date. There is, although, one thing about this picture that may lessen the number of its audience. A few gruesome scenes in the film are not recommended for queasy movie-goers.  Those scenes aren’t necessary to the story and can be avoided by watching the edited-for-television version if all else fails.

          My overall rating: 4 out of 5