Despite the expected elements of shoot outs, guitars, and American actors parading around as Mexican drug lords fixated on killing el mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico has definitely shedding its roots of the original El Mariachi film, and become another flashy Hollywood flick. Replacing the low budget emotional shooter and unknown actors with fireworks and big Hollywood names.
Yet as a standalone the film still has its charms. The abundance of characters all fighting for or against a revolution can get confusing but keeps the plot from reverting back to the now stale vengeance story of the two previous installments. Johnny Depp definitely gave a great performance and Enrique Iglesias wasn't as horrible as you would expect.
Overall the plot tries to give a political message which gets over shadowed by the shoot outs, roster of Hollywood names, and the fact that you cannot take any of the characters seriously. So if you forget the message its actually an enjoyable action film, that is if you don't get lost.
Yet as a standalone the film still has its charms. The abundance of characters all fighting for or against a revolution can get confusing but keeps the plot from reverting back to the now stale vengeance story of the two previous installments. Johnny Depp definitely gave a great performance and Enrique Iglesias wasn't as horrible as you would expect.
Overall the plot tries to give a political message which gets over shadowed by the shoot outs, roster of Hollywood names, and the fact that you cannot take any of the characters seriously. So if you forget the message its actually an enjoyable action film, that is if you don't get lost.