Once Upon a time in Mexico: Discussion Thread

[makeshift nitengale]

Just got back from it, and it was fantastic. Way better than Desperado. That double-knee shot (if you've seen it, you know the one I'm talking about) was insane. Even my mom and sister liked it, which really surprised me. After POTC, Depp's on a roll.

 

[incurock31]

Originally posted by Lord Blackbolt
Yeah... the movie made over 24 million....

Nice... hopefully that means another sequel.... or a Spin-off

Agent Sands needs his own movie

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Yeah... he does.... He did somewhat looked like the crow at the end of the movie.

 

[Clerk]

Just got back from it, one of the best movies I have seen all year. The plot was a little hard to understand for me, so I will go see it again next week. It was a great way to end the story of El Mariachi, though the universe should continue with a Sands movie. If there was one flaw I could pick in this movie........ it was the new Mariachi's. The ones in Desperado defined badass, these ones were human with flaws, which IMO was a bad thing.

Overall 8.5/10

 

[Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

I just didn't like their weapons. I prefer rocket launcher and minigun to flame thrower and remote controlled bomb.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

yeah.... they should have DIED.

Spoiler





Sands as a Blind gunfighter would make a cool movie IMO. LEt him hone his skill.... and he can become Rutger Hauer in Blind Fury... only with guns... instead of swords.

 

[Max Shrek]

Originally posted by Movies205
I disagree... There was too little action and nothing was that great unlike desperado. Now I like a good story but this was trite and dumb... Robert Rodiguez isn't a good writer Does anyone rememeber Desperado and you find out the guy is HIS BROTHER! Just because it complex doesn't make it good All the characters sucked including Antonio Banderaz except Johnny Depp kicked ass! I give this a 5-6/10 for Johnny Deep and what little action there was.

You're crazy. You're just mad because you were expecting the all action-all Salma type movie Desperado was. Insted, you got a complex plot with great characters, and great dilogue/great plot turns insted of great action. Keep re-watching the bar and sex scenes in Desperado. The rest have QUaTiM.

 

[incurock31]

Originally posted by Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
I just didn't like their weapons. I prefer rocket launcher and minigun to flame thrower and remote controlled bomb.

I agree. As badass as the bomb thing was, it was a little over the top.
But then again, so was Sands fighting blind....

 

[Erik Magnus Lehnsherr]

Sands fighting blind wasn't so unbeleivable. Atleast he missed sometimes.

 

[Clerk]

Originally posted by Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
I just didn't like their weapons. I prefer rocket launcher and minigun to flame thrower and remote controlled bomb.

Yeah, I mean if that guy had done the cool pose and fired the rocket launcher, I would've changed my opinion in a heartbeat, but alas. We get a remote controled guitar!??

 

[Catman]

Something came up and I was unable to see the film. I will hopefully attempt to see it some time this week.

 

[SolomonGrundy]

I was a bit disapointed, but I still enjoyed the film.

Liked:

That it was different than Desperado. That it wasn't just a repeat with a bigger cast. but... (see dislikes)
Beautiful cinematography and locations.
Johnny Depp, Rueben Blades, Mickey Rourke and Antonio Banderas.
Salma, Salma, Salma!
The gunfights.
The hotel escape.

Disliked:

The disjointed plot. It was not complex at all, it was just a bit jumbled. Their was only one real twist for the audience.
Not enough Dafoe or Hayek.
The Mariachi felt too much like he was being used. I would have prefered it if his plotline wasn't just about revenge.
I was really looking forward to the Mariachi and Sands having a showdown in the end. But... no go.
I would have liked more flashbacks from the "third movie".
Not enough gunfights.

 

[Duende Verde]

Depp and Banderas were really cool.

The Armando Barrillo operation was taken rigth out of the mexican news, a few years ago a drug lord named Amado Carrillo supposedly died during cosmetic surgery, many belive they placed a body.


One thing i didn't like was that the "Day of the Dead" celebration looked more like a Chinese New year. People don't wear mask or paint their faces or carry big skulls.

 

[Balthus Dire]

I just got back from it.


It wasn't what I expected. It was an OK movie...but it was nothing compared to Desperado. There wasn't a lot of action scenes in it...and that's what I went to see it for.....action.

Plus I think Rodriguez complicated the story way too much. He had way too many primary characters in the movie, each with their own complicated story. Desperados, Johnny Depp, the cop, the chick cop, Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke...

Not only were they characters that had to do with the plot, but they all had a backstory.

It needed less plot and more guns.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Also, I just wanted to say this:


I work at a theater, and a lot of people come out of OUATIM saying "Johnny Depp made the movie."

What the ass? I like Johnny Depp...I've always said he was a great actor.

But really...if it wasn't for the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, nobody would give two ****s if Johnny Depp was in it or not.

That just bugs me. Pirates comes out, and suddenly everyone loves Johnny Depp.

 

[SolomonGrundy]

Originally posted by Balthus Dire
Also, I just wanted to say this:


I work at a theater, and a lot of people come out of OUATIM saying "Johnny Depp made the movie."

What the ass? I like Johnny Depp...I've always said he was a great actor.

But really...if it wasn't for the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, nobody would give two ****s if Johnny Depp was in it or not.

That just bugs me. Pirates comes out, and suddenly everyone loves Johnny Depp.

While I agree that may be people's initial response to the movie because it's cool to have people agree with you...

You can't deny that it's true. His character was the lead. El took a back seat to Sands' underhanded plans.

 

[Naeriksgurl]

People have always loved Depp--ladies cuz he's pretty and guys cuz he can actually act. He's been in some less than stellar films tho and many extremely off-the-wall films that the general movie going audience isn't interested in. But he is ALWAYS solid and I think people pretty much know that. I think it is just more evident in the bigger budget more mainstream films when Depp gets to play an over-the-top character; he can just outright steal the film which IMO he did in both Pirates and Mexico. He has a gift--don't be hatin'

 

[bellini97]

I thought it was pretty good. The characters were enjoyable all-around and I dug the action. The plot was pretty tricky, with all of the back stories and double crosses, but at least it had a plot, unlike Desperado. Banderas and Dafoe owned. Depp's mysterious character was cool, of course, but I prefer Cap'n Jack myself. Overall, good flick worth *** out of ****. Rodriguez is a very talented director, and I'd like to see him try out some meatier projects, like when David Fincher did Fight Club.

Added Personal Bonus: Cheech Marin's character has my screenname!

 

[Balthus Dire]

I'm not hating on Johnny Depp. I think he's really talented.


I'm just saying that almost all of the people now who like him only like him because of Pirates of the Caribbean. And that bugs me.

Bandwagon ****es bug me.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Depp rules

 

[Enzyme]

Ok, so I am a little late, but it hasn't been out long in the UK.

I liked it quite a lot. Nice action, decent plot, funny and of course... Salma. (The other girl was hot as well!)

I'm not sure why, but I loved the way Depp's character just took so well to being blind. No "Oh my god! I'm blind, my life is over, what the **** am I going to do!?" Instead he just carried on being his cool self. Definately the most charasmatic and lovable character in the movie. So much so, you just didn't care who he killed. He could have put a bullet in El's head and you would have egged him on.

The ball crushing scene made me, and no doubt every other guy there, very uncomfortable.

The blowing away of the knees was also pretty cool.

And I would definately like to see that Spin-Off!

Though to me, Dafoe wasn't convincing as a Mexican. Nothing to do with his performance, more of his look. His facial features and blue eyes made him stand out too much. Though maybe I was just weirded out by him having pitch black hair.

 

[AbayTimma]

This movie sucks so much ass

 

[Clerk]

Originally posted by AbayTimma
This movie sucks so much ass

Why thank you for that insightful comment! I am sure that you have just converted so many people out of the dark and into the light! Because of that, I see the faults in OUATIM, how was I so blind? Thank you.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Oh well... who cares what he thinks.

 

[Catman]

AGENT SANDS IS BACK...maybe!

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/03/11/robert-rodriguez-talks-once-upon-a-time-in-mexico-sequels/

Robert Rodriguez broke onto the scene with the low budget action film El Mariachi, which spawned a trilogy (Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico). Well now Rodriguez is thinking of returning to the series with another trilogy. Yes, you read that right, ANOTHER TRILOGY.

“I thought I could do two trilogies, but with only five movies because you could go El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. But then Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the first one in series with the Blind Gunman where you do two more sequels, which would be Once Upon a Time in Mexico 2 and 3,” explained Rodriguez at the Grindhouse 101 panel at the 2007 SXSW Film Festival. “So I thought, ‘That would be really cool if I could do that.’�

And what�s more, Johnny Depp seems up for it:

�So I cut together a trailer of some footage I had of Johnny Depp walking blind one night while we were doing Once Upon A Time in Mexico. I had Johnny come down to the edit room and I said, ‘Hey, check this out.’ And I did the voiceover for it while he was walking and I added music, and I said, ‘The man with no eyes is back. Once Upon a Time in Mexico Part Two!’ And Johnny goes, ‘I’m there.’ And I just thought, ‘Wow.’ I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to doing that, but I think it would be cool. I have all kinds of adventures for him.”

In Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Depp played Sheldon Sands, a CIA Agent who recruits El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) to kill General Marquez. As the plot unfolds, informants begin to turn on Sands. On the day of the Coup, he finds himself captured and blinded by his captors. And Depp (as often happens) stole the show, and became most everyone�s most loved character from the film.

But who knows if Rodriguez will ever find time to make the films. Up next is Sin City 2 (possibly back-to-back with Sin City 3), and then Madman (which he will write, shoot, score, but not direct).

Something came up and I was unable to see the film. I will hopefully attempt to see it some time this week.