Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Antonio Banderas still cuts an imposing, mysterious, hell-bent, and sexy figure as the gun-toting "mariachi" with the implacable glower and black suede bandito getup in this third installment of Robert Rodriguez's iconic series (along with El Mariachi and Desperado), and he still performs limber slow-motion ballets of body-twisting, two-fisted gunfire. But in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Rodriguez pollutes the once refreshingly simple revenge plot with erratic, incongruous, and over-edited intrigue involving: 1) a thorny coup attempt against the Mexican president backed by a cartel kingpin (Willem Dafoe) and his turncoat henchman (Mickey Rourke), 2) a crooked and borderline-loco CIA agent (Johnny Depp) playing both sides against the middle, 3) a former FBI agent (Ruben Blades) frustrated with not nailing the kingpin before his retirement, 4) a curvaceous, gung-ho greenhorn federale (Eva Mendes) with ulterior motives, and a whole litany of elaborate deceptions, double-crosses, dream sequences, doppelgangers, and bait-and-switches that take away from the already depreciated thrills. When gunplay and explosions take a backseat to manifold political intrigues that would give Tom Clancy a headache, you've done your tongue-in-cheek, check-your-brain action movie a disservice. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez, a music and sound design track with commentary, a “Ten-Minute Flick School” making-of featurette (9 min.), an “Inside Troublemaker Studios” featurette (11 min.), a “Ten-Minute Cooking School” featurette (6 min.), the 13-minute featurette “Film is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez” held at L.A.'s Cary Grant Theater, the 18-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “The Anti-Hero's Journey,” the 19-minute featurette “The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX,” eight deleted scenes with optional commentary by Rodriguez, a text soundtrack spot, cast/crew filmographies, and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a characteristically solid--for a Rodriguez film--extras package for a sprawling movie.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review--November 30, 2004--Columbia TriStar, 102 min., R, $26.95--Making its second appearance on DVD, 2003's Once Upon a Time in Mexico: Superbit boasts a slightly improved visual image and sharper audio (thanks to the Superbit process's higher bit rate for recording), but with the exception of the added DTS soundtrack most viewers won't notice much difference (especially since the first release looked outstanding). Bottom line: if you already own the original extra-filled "special edition," you won't need this unless you are specifically collecting Superbit titles for high-end cinemaphiles.][Blu-ray Review—Jan 18, 2011—Sony, 102 min., R, $19.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003's Once Upon a Time in Mexico features an excellent transfer and a 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez, eight deleted scenes with optional commentary by Rodriguez, the featurette “The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX” (19 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurette “The Anti-Hero's Journey” (18 min.), the production featurettes “Film is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez” held at L.A.'s Cary Grant Theatre (13 min.), “Inside Troublemaker Studios” (11 min.), “Ten-Minute Flick School” (9 min.), and “Ten-Minute Cooking School” (6 min.), and trailers. New to this release is “The Cutting Room” editing option, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for Rodriguez's so-so follow-up to Desperado.]