Pistolero

Sharp knives, big guns, awesome fights, great dialog, wonderful characters and Selma Hayek looks better then ever. These are just a few reasons why I like this movie.

"Desperado" is more than an action movie. It has tons of fun in it which makes the movie extremely likable to watch. The action is way over the top but it works very well since the movie obviously doesn't take itself serious. It's fun and cool to watch at the same time.

"Desperado" is a kind of movie that really needs no story and basically there isn't really any. All the fun characters, dialog and action sequences make you forget that there isn't really a story. The Quentin Tarantino cameo is especially entertaining and so are almost every Mexican bad guy that are all in one way or another over the top.

A must see, in my opinion.

9/10

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There are so many adjectives one could use describing this film, I wouldn't know where to begin to start. I'll just try to limit them to a few. The headline here states one of them. Others could be "ludicrous," "fun," "amusing," "stupid," etc. You get the idea.

Robert Rodriguez took the profits from his first film, "El Mariachi," and continued on with the story now with more funds, so he made it glossier, more explosive, added some name actors and, of course, way overdid it, making it almost a cartoon it is so outrageous. He continued this with the third film, "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" which is even more of the same.

If something worked subtly the first time, filmmakers think that to improve on it is by bombarding the audience with it the next time. They don't know when enough is enough and, boy, does that apply to Rodriguez. He does keep you entertained, though, once you check your brains at the door and begin watching the show. However, all this excess makes it lose any credibility "El Mariachi" might have built up with the first show in this trilogy.

Whether the movie is really dumb or its just tongue-in-cheek humor by Rodriguez, it has super-style and fun to watch. Talk about stylish! No wonder Quentin Tarantino and he are good friends and the latter has a guest appearance in the film. They both love having fun with the cameras.

The first eight minutes let you know what you are in for: outrageousness. It's an 8-minute scene at a bar involving a story told by Steve Buscemi. It's one of the highlights of the movie.

Antonio Bandaras and Selyma Hayek are the "good guys" but they aren't exactly Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. If they are the good guys, you can imagine how evil the "bad guys" are? Speaking of them, two of the toughest- looking hombres in the business are chief among the villains: Joaquim de Almeida and Danny Trejo.

Some of the action scenes are so outrageous you laugh out loud. My favorite was a guy shooting rockets out of his guitar case! As that tells you, it's just a wild ride: 103 minutes of south-of-the-border Rodriguez-Tarantino lunacy and despite what may sound like a bunch of insults, I always have fun watching this movie.

A true 90's cowboy movie, everyone who saw El Mariachi could foresee that this picture would take the concept to the top. Fast-paced, greatly shot, incredibly edited, this movie refuses to take itself seriously and is well-succeeded in so. Antonio Banderas is the perfect Mariachi, adding a new depth to the first movie's main character. He seeks revenge. Revenge for all the things they did to him. And he will get it, the easy way or the hard way. Fellow portuguese Joaquim de Almeida is Bucho, the villain, whose relationship with El Mariachi turns out quite surprising near the end. Until they both meet, there will be much gun-slinging action to fill the screen with anthological scenes, like the bar fight, the "Quedate Aqui" song and the final showdown. The movie is a comedy, even in the action scenes. I guarantee it, it's two hours of fun and a visible influence of the Westerns and B-Movies in someone's talent. Cracking good fun, which becomes addictive. Memorable movie.

Some movies are just brimming with potential, and it's not hard to see that they are a very short distance from being fantastic. I'm a big fan of stylish violence and over-the-top gun-play, but I can't help but wish that Desperado had more than that to offer. 

Well...it has that and ample helpings of Salma Hayek looking her absolute best, but thats not quite enough to make up for the fact that this movie doesn't hold up well to subsequent viewings. The first time around it's a blast, but the second time it could barely hold my attention in most scenes. File Desperado into the category of movies that start of really strongly, and then slowly lose steam as they go along. Some more humor, clever dialogue, or a stronger story, would have greatly helped to fill in the slow areas between the action scenes.

After watching El Mariachi, it was easy to see the improvement in production values between the two. Not surprising, considering the difference in the price tag of the two films. But, as I pointed out in my El Mariachi review, money isn't everything.

Although better visually, Desperado benefits from better actors who bring more life to the characters. The overall effect, given another reasonable plot, is to make a much more polished looking film that deservedly did as well as it did at the box office.

The aforementioned plot is, essentially, the same as the first film when you boil it down - the Mariachi ends up killing a lot of no-good drug-dealers and warlords etc. - and there's the obligatory love interest. But although very similar, this movie was more enjoyable due to it's overall finish and style.

I originally watched this movie some years ago, long before I got to see the original El Mariachi, so I suppose I am a little biased in preferring this one to the the first in that Banderas IS the Mariachi as far as I was concerned. But not to knock the first movie, which tells us the early history of the Mariachi, and is a worthy film in its own right.

Desperado is good, if sometimes a little gory, fun. Nothing to analyse too much, just enjoy. If you have the opportunity, watch the original, then this one and things will make a lot more sense. Desperado has enough back history woven into it to make it a standalone film, but the overall experience is better watching the two back to back.