Once Upon A Time in Mexico

Ah, Robert Rodriguez. Watching his flicks are like music to my ears, if I were a musician. He's the man. He knows action. When you go see one of his flicks, you don't care about the 'how' but rather the 'when', because you're just enjoying the thing so much. In other words, it's not how it's going to happen, how the story will unfold, it's when, and with how many guns and ammunition.

"Once Upon a Time in Mexico" is the third installment in a series a flicks Mr. Rodriguez started in 1992 with just $7,000. That was the cost of "El Mariachi", and a few years later, he got the chance to play with the story again in "Desperado", this time on a Hollywood budget! And now, he has truely become the master of action. I'd strip that title away from John Woo and proudly hand it to Mr. Rodriguez. Yes.

The action in 'Mexico couldn't be any more masterful. Guns never run out of ammo, unless they're supposed to; single shots propel people 10, 20 feet into the air; and John Woo couldn't even dare to do better.

Aside from the pornographic violence, which is done to perfection, there's those great one-liners. Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Willem Dafoe, all have their fair share of the great Rodriguez script.

Which reminds me, not only does Mr. Rodriguez direct to perfection here, he writes... Shoots... Chops.. Scores... and even designs the costumes. For you normal people, that means he's the director, the writer, the cinematographer, the editor, the composer, and the production designer. Wow. I'm not worthy. I'm scum, I suck.

If anybody says this film is weak, or that it's just a bunch of impossible action, then they haven't seen a Rodriguez flick before. They don't understand. You have to suspend disbelief when you go see one his films.

Just sit back and relax, and enjoy his show.