LogFAQs > #957373375

#11. Once Upon a Time in Mexico 98 points (won tiebreaker over The Great Silence)

Stifled 4
Inviso 9
CoolCly 13
KBM 13
Johnbobb 14
Karo 16
Pokewars 29

Very poor plot synopsis:
Bring in the white guy!

Why it was included:
Despite my reluctance to include The Lone Ranger on the list, I was intrigued to find out Johnny Depp had done a few other westerns. One I will be including on a future list, 1995s Dead Man. But for now, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the other. This is the high budget finale to a low budget start for the Mariachi Trilogy. Your mileage may vary, but Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp deliver memorable performances in this action packed Hispanic western.

What Stifled thinks:
On one hand, Im not entirely sure I liked taking an Antonio Banderas starring role and diminishing it to where he and Johnny Depp are dual main characters. On the other hand, Johnny Depps character is a batshit crazy lunatic who shoots a chef because his cooking was too good. Ridiculous stuff like that will crack me up every single time. Using a rare combination of revenge and political intrigue, this could almost be considered a Hispanic spy flick. El Mariachis life has gone down the crapper once again having lost his wife and daughter, and now the FBI wants to hire him to take out their killer because he is going to assassinate the president of Mexico. Convenient! No matter how ridiculous this might sound, ultimately it doesnt make a difference. This movie takes elements of westerns, spy movies, and revenge flicks and smashes them together with a sledgehammer. Its not just my cup of tea, its the whole damn pot. I have such a blast every time I watch this trilogy, and the third installment is by far my favorite of the three.
---

Bear Bro
The Empire of Silence