2.28.2004
once upon a time in mexico
ok, you're all gonna fight me on this one, but i have to say i enjoyed robert rodriguez's once upon a time in mexico. yeah, yeah, it's not great or anything, but i still fell for it. and to make matters worse, i have to also admit that i like desperado better than el mariachi, and maybe his underrated teen flick the faculty best of all.
i think rodriguez is "mainstream" in the best sense of the word. the way howard hawks was, i guess, in his time. rodriguez doesn't even have the love-of-schlock mentality of john waters or troma or something like that, which i would argue has generated a kind of bizarro "high art" status in spite of itself (note the artsy street cred of a flick like battle royale for example). rodriguez makes big, fun movies. he's lost all concern with with being dirty or provocative at this point-- the violence here is waaay tamer than that of desperado-- and he's sacrificed none of the momentum from his earlier, more underground fare in the process. it's very clear he's enjoying himself. i felt as if i could sense the fun he was having making this movie, which is why i enjoyed it myself. of course, the presence of botox nightmare mickey rourke (chihuahua in hand) didn't exactly hurt...
still, it's essentially a big mess... 600 subplots... too little screentime devoted to the campy goodness of banderas (too say nothing of the neglected, humanizing presence of ruben blades)... weird, unsatisfying action... too much screentime to the usually admirable johnny depp (he is HAM CITY in this one, and not in that fun pirate movie sort of way)...
and then there's the near inexcusable presence of enrique iglesias, which could have provided some of the finest wink-wink moments of the whole deal, but instead is every bit as lame as it sounds.
but i liked it despite all of this. make popcorn.
i think rodriguez is "mainstream" in the best sense of the word. the way howard hawks was, i guess, in his time. rodriguez doesn't even have the love-of-schlock mentality of john waters or troma or something like that, which i would argue has generated a kind of bizarro "high art" status in spite of itself (note the artsy street cred of a flick like battle royale for example). rodriguez makes big, fun movies. he's lost all concern with with being dirty or provocative at this point-- the violence here is waaay tamer than that of desperado-- and he's sacrificed none of the momentum from his earlier, more underground fare in the process. it's very clear he's enjoying himself. i felt as if i could sense the fun he was having making this movie, which is why i enjoyed it myself. of course, the presence of botox nightmare mickey rourke (chihuahua in hand) didn't exactly hurt...
still, it's essentially a big mess... 600 subplots... too little screentime devoted to the campy goodness of banderas (too say nothing of the neglected, humanizing presence of ruben blades)... weird, unsatisfying action... too much screentime to the usually admirable johnny depp (he is HAM CITY in this one, and not in that fun pirate movie sort of way)...
and then there's the near inexcusable presence of enrique iglesias, which could have provided some of the finest wink-wink moments of the whole deal, but instead is every bit as lame as it sounds.
but i liked it despite all of this. make popcorn.
