Desperado (1995)

Desperado: 1995, dir. Robert Rodriguez. Seen on DVD (May 12).
We rented a DVD with El Mariachi on one side and Desperado (its sequel) on the other, and my boyfriend saw the movies before I did. He told me I might as well skip Desperado, it was terrible. I believe his summary was “Robert Rodriguez trying to be Jerry Bruckheimer in Mexico.”

But I decided to see Desperado anyway, mainly because I like watching Antonio Banderas. He’s been in some real stinkers, but I couldn’t resist. Also, my boyfriend did say that the opening scene with Steve Buscemi was good, so I figured I could always watch that and if the movie got unbearable I could shut it off.
I don’t think Desperado was anywhere near as good as El Mariachi, but I enjoyed it more than my boyfriend did.
He was right about the opening scene with Steve Buscemi. This might be the best part of the movie. The movie is worth watching just for this scene, in which Buscemi enters a seedy bar and warns everyone about this “giant Mexican” with a big case full of weapons that he used to mow down everyone (except Buscemi) in a bar in another town.
It turns out that Buscemi’s character is working with El Mariachi, who is played by Banderas in this movie, to find the last member of the gang who murdered El Mariachi’s girlfriend in the first movie.
El Mariachi has become this relentless killer, which is what my boyfriend didn’t like about the movie. Desperado is one big bloodfest for most of the movie. Buscemi’s story isn’t that much of an exaggeration. He mows down everyone in his path during his quest to find this one last guy, whom he hasn’t ever even seen.
In one of the lamer plot twists of the movie, the guy turns out to be El Mariachi’s brother. This is not the simple suspenseful story I enjoyed in El Mariachi. It’s an excuse to watch people being killed in lots of cool ways. It’s stylish, very stylish, but doesn’t have much in the way of substance.
Antonio Banderas is a stylish El Mariachi, and if you find him charming then you’ll enjoy this movie more than my boyfriend did. Salma Hayek annoyed me and I’m not sure why. Steve Buscemi was not in the movie long enough. Cheech Marin had a wonderful little role as a bartender. Quentin Tarantino appeared briefly as one of the bad guys. He’s annoying but his character is supposed to be annoying so that’s all right.
I understand what my boyfriend meant about Desperado being Bruckheimer-ish. Lots of stylish killings and even some explosions and fire. And the ending is just plain silly. I didn’t like this movie nearly so much as El Mariachi, but I’m glad I didn’t skip it and send the DVD back early.
And yes, I probably will rent Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the third movie in the series. If nothing else, it has Banderas and Johnny Depp, y’know?