Although the film received mostly positive reviews, it was criticized for reducing El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) to an almost secondary character in his own trilogy, and also for having an unnecessarily convoluted and confusing plot. Robert Rodriguez has however admitted that this was intended, as he wanted this to be ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'' of the trilogy.
Despite those shortcomings, the film had much improved elements over the previous Desperado film. Banderas is no longer the only starring character, this time almost equally weighted with the character of Johnny Depp. The drama component, including character psychology, is deeper and better implemented than in the previous films. The photography, action scenes, the general plot, the music score (created by Rodriguez himself) and the general ambience of the movie are perceived by many as the best in the trilogy.
Rourke's, Blades', and Dafoe's characters, though not principal, are also a good addition to the movie's storyline and plot development. It's possible that the darker, more serious tone of the movie disappointed some fans of the lighter, action-packed previous films.
'''Tagline''':
*''The time has come.''
Trilogy Problems
This film is presented as the concluding chapter of Rodriguez's "Mariachi Trilogy", though there are some problems with viewing the films as a linear trilogy, as one would do with ''The Godfather'' or ''Back to the Future'' films:Desperado is often considered a re-make of El Mariachi, not a direct sequel; there are some inconsistencies between the first two films and in Rodriguez's commentary on the Desperado DVD, he says he originally intended Desperado to be a remake of El Mariachi for an American audience. There is some amount of confusion as to specific plot points, such as how the character of Bucho actually links back to the drug-peddling consortium that killed El Mariachi's girlfriend in the first film. A number of actors whose characters died in Desperado appear in "Mexico". Rodriguez has stated that he wanted to use those actors again, and choose to do so despite their other characters having been killed in Desperado. This isn't unheard of as Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy featured the same actors in different parts in different movies. This works with the idea that the Mariachi series is Rodriguez's "Dollars" trilogy.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
| Antonio Banderas | El Mariachi |
| Salma Hayek | Carolina |
| Johnny Depp | Sands |
| Mickey Rourke | Billy Chambers |
| Eva Mendes | Ajedruz |
| Danny Trejo | Cucuy |
| Enrique Iglesias | Lorenzo |
| Marco Leonardi | Fideo |
| Rubén Blades | FBI Agent Jorge Ramirez |
| Willem Dafoe | Armando Barillo |
| Gerardo Vigil | General Emiliano Marquez |
| Cheech Marin | Belini |
| Julio Oscar Mechoso | Nicholas |
Plot
The plot centers once again on El Mariachi, who is recruited by CIA Agent Sands, to kill a military general (Marquez) who happened to murder his wife and child, and who is being hired by a Mexican drug lord (Armando Barillo) to assassinate the President.Sands recruits a retired FBI Agent (Jorge Ramirez) to kill Barillo and simultaneouly avenge FBI agent Archuleta who died at the hands of Barillo and a sadistic doctor, Guevara. He also hires AFN Agent Ajedrez to tail Barillo.
Informants begin, however, to turn on him (and, in one case, on El Mariachi). On the day of the Coup, Sands finds himself captured and blinded by his captors. He is forced to fight the cartel with a distinct disadvantage.
El Mariachi recruits two of his friends, to assist him. They rescue the President who escapes with the two aforementioned friends. El Mariachi kills Marquez, avenging his wife and daughter who died at Marquez's hands as well as preventing Marquez from taking power, while Ramirez kills Barillo.
Box office
US Gross Domestic Takings: US$ 56,359,780:+ Other International Takings: $41,825,802
= Gross Worldwide Takings: $98,185,582
Trivia
* Agent Sands (Johnny Depp) tells El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) to meet an associate of his named Salome in the church. When El meets him, Salome is very obviously played by Johnny Depp, Salome is Sands incognito as many people assume as Rodriguez mentions in the DVD commentary. Johnny Depp reportedly didn't want to leave after his filming was finished and suggested to Robert Rodriguez that he play the small part and use his Marlon Brando impression, though in the original script it was a different character.*The movie was filmed in the Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. The "Presidential Palace," is really the main building of the University of Guanajuato
*A special feature of the DVD release is director Robert Rodriguez explaining and demonstrating the recipe for puerco pibil, the dish that Agent Sands eats during all of his meetings with his associates.
*The name of Agent Ramirez's partner, Archuleta, was also the name of Ruben Blades' character in Predator 2.
*On the DVD Commentary, director Robert Rodriguez said that the part of Cucuy, which was played by Danny Trejo, was originally meant for Quentin Tarantino. Also, Agent Sands was written with George Clooney in mind.
*This film was shot before Rodriguez' ''Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams'' and ''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' in order to avoid a potential Screen Actors Guild strike. This also makes it the first film Rodriguez ever shot in HD.
*The name of Billy Chambers's dog is Moco, the drug dealer from El Mariachi. The name can be seen on the dog's tag.
External links
*Boxoffice information*Adudathuda DVD podBLAST alternate DVD commentary for Once Upon a Time in Mexico
