Once Upon a Time in Mexico
When I first saw Once Upon a Time in Mexico, I was pretty jaded, my Robert Rodriguez fix had been fixed by Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over which was one of my most shameless favourites of 2003, and frankly, I’d been waiting too long for the last chapter of the Mariachi Trilogy. Overall, I wasn’t amazed by Once Upon a Time in Mexico... but I knew I wanted to see it again, because the ending was particularly amazing.
The ending is still particularly amazing – profound, poetic, visual.
Carolina: “What do you want in life?”
Mariachi: “Freedom.”
Carolina: “Simple.”
Mariachi: “No.”
It’s also in the last half hour that Johnny Depp really begins to shine. In fact, I’d have to say that this movie improves ten-fold, hundred-fold, after [what happens to Depp’s character]. When it’s good, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is freaking awesome. And it’s certainly worth watching. But the story, especially when compared to Parts One and Two, is just way too complex… or, it thinks it’s complex, I still can’t tell.
There is some of the humour of El Mariachi back in force here – the bar with wheels in the first flashback is a great gag (bartender wheels the entire bar offscreen when gunfighting ensues, but wheels back into frame to catch a glimpse of Salma Hayek when she appears for the first time).
This is basically the brash finale to what has really been a non-Trilogy. I’m sure less than 50% of those who saw Desperado had seen El Mariachi and probably a greater number of those who hadn’t had probably never heard of the original. Equally, this finale bears odd relations to Part Two. Actors return in different roles, it’s unexplained how Salma Hayek’s character was linked with the evil General after the ending of Desperado (except for Cheech Marin’s telling Johnny Depp, “Maybe the story picked up embellishments along the way… read between the lines,” similar to a Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over moment when Juni is told that the backstory is literally unimportant). That’s Robert Rodriguez though… you don’t overanalyze, you experience. Why bother analyzing a film unless it’s for good reasons? I don’t understand the point of saying, “this movie’s terrible, so let’s find out why, and maybe we’ll find out even more reasons why it’s terrible!” This is the kind of movie people like this pick on, and frankly it’s a waste of time. For what this movie could have been, this movie succeeds 100% in my opinion. These are not masterpieces or Oscar winners but they are works of art. They entertain and they tell stories and they actually reach real profound moments in places. Robert Rodriguez should be proud of these movies, and I’m sure he is 
(see the opening credits)
Final note: Johnny Depp is simply bizarre here. His part was shot in 8 days, and he goes through many and varied hilarious costume changes. Best is probably his C.I.A. T-shirt, which reminded me of Michael Keaton’s shirt in Jackie Brown (read the small print if you can freeze-frame, or just look it up online, whatever). I’m intrigued by the possiblilty of a spin-off series on his character, the Blind Gunslinger, I think they’re calling it… but only if he gets to play.