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Once Upon a Time in Mexico
EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures / Sony Pictures
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 38 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Crime | Western
Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 12, 2003
DVD: January 20, 2004
Running Time: 101 minutes, Color
Origin: Mexico / USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence, and for language
Starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Rubén Blades, Eva Mendes, Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, and Enrique Iglesias
The saga of the mythic guitar-slinging hero, El Mariachi (Banderas), continues in Robert Rodriguez's bold, non-stop action epic.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Desperado El Mariachi
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
The movie gets goofy from time to time -- as when payola arrives in a vintage "Clash of the Titans lunchbox -- but the filmmakers and cast have the style and the swagger to back it up.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Make no mistake, this movie is a mess. But, wow, what a mess! It's an exploding piñata, full of low comedy and high drama, deliriously colorful fight scenes and vehicle chases.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
It's an exercise in style by Robert Rodriguez and not to be taken any more (or less) seriously than his giddy "Spy Kids" movies.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Jean Oppenheimer
Affectionately conceived, imaginatively staged and highly entertaining.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
A bloody fairy tale with no moral and a lot of juice.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Rodriguez is such a visual stylist, and the violence is so cartoonish, that the flurry of whizzing bullets and growing pile of bodies is not as offensive as it might be.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I understood the general outlines of the story, I liked the bold strokes he uses to create the characters, and I was amused by the camera work, which includes a lot of shots that are about themselves.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
It's the addition of Depp's corrupt CIA agent, Sands, that really makes this violent, over-the-top action film, with its maze-like plot, sing.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
In its wildly overwrought, burrito-Western way, is about as close to a home movie as you're likely to see in a megaplex.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
You don't want to miss Depp in this movie -- he knocks it out of the park.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
God bless Johnny Depp. For the second time this year, the man has almost single-handedly redeemed an action movie that would otherwise be indistinguishable from the pack.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
The movie is stolen by the gorgeous, droll and hilarious Depp. The movie crackles when he's onscreen and only fitfully sparks when he's not.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
Evokes the mythic feel of Sergio Leone Westerns. Despite a convoluted plot that begs for cleaner lines, the wild shoot-outs, cartoonish violence and charismatic cast should lure action fans to theaters.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
You ride along with a movie like this with a big, dumb grin on your face and no guilt. Not one of this summer's megabucks movies felt this frisky or fun.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
It's a grisly, chuckling cartoon made on shots of tequila, Red Bull, and Sergio Leone.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
If not exactly epic, the movie is certainly the biggest and most complex of Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, which began in "El Mariachi" and continued in "Desperado."
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Starts having the same effect as one too many tequilas: the Hong Kong-style stunts, the goofy wisecracks, the foxy presence of Eva Mendes -- all of it becomes blurry and numbing.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
An epic unhinged, and while its best sections suggest a Loony Tune done by Sam Peckinpah and Emilio Fernandez, "Mexico" needs to be even crazier than it is.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Banderas inhabits the role of the mariachi with a feral grace undimished by the seven-year gap between films.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Paying homage to Sergio Leone, "Mexico" aims too high and, in the process, becomes more like every generic, overplotted drug-cartel-and-revenge flick out there.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
However many millions of dollars Rodriguez set aside for blanks and exploding squibs was a waste. Depp's salary, on the other hand, was money well spent.
Read Full Review >Premiere Addison MacDonald
The entire film is a thrown-together collection of gunfights and in-jokes. The film is more concerned with expanding this universe of seedy tequila bars and dusty city streets than it is in telling a narrative story.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
Depp's performance reminds us that, yeah, it's only a movie -- just not a good one.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
Having already looted the Peckinpah and spaghetti-western archives, the director now quotes his own quotations, in service of not a sequel but a vociferous reiteration.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The result is a dull and campy 97-minute bloodbath offering little distinction between good guys and bad.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The whole movie is like that: showy stunts, explosions, over-the-top acting, fiesta colors, lurid angles, and a sense of nothing--nada--at stake.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
The only thing missing is a coherent story -- or even, for that matter, an interesting idea for one.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The film's deliberately overblown cartoonishness and its gleefully pandering adolescent cruelty never blend into the enjoyable style of, say, a good spaghetti western (Rodriguez's acknowledged model), or even a bad Quentin Tarantino movie.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 38 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Blue M. gave it a1:
The most irritating movie I have ever had the misfortune to watch. Would have been better if there was a story instead of blindly jumping from scene to scene. All the BS gunfight scenes make me angry just thinking about them.
Pat C. gave it a4:
Offers a fatalistic view of the inevitability of political intrigue. And that's the good part. While aspiring to present something memorable, this movie doesn't overcome what even the most casual observer would find to be a bloodbath.
[Anonymous] gave it an8:
It's all about fun with guns, though some elements seems a little bit out of place. Depp helps lift this movie above the cliches.
Mason J. gave it a 10:
If you want a thoughtful and deep movie watch City of God. I bought this movie because sometimes you just need a mindless movie -- Once upon a time in mexico is fun, mindless, and contains an amazing performance by Depp. If nothing else, Depp's tee-shirts make this movie worthy of a 10.
Kevin F. gave it a 1:
Assumes hipness without even a successful implementation. Very dull.
Vincent Y. gave it a 9:
This was a bit rough round the edges but that could be Rodriguez thinking outside the box. Banderas is as good as ever as his moody Mariachi legend and Depp really shines. His oddball charm and style sparkles in every scene. The plot however, constantly threatens to trip the movie up but thats not what the movies made for. The stylish action and dark humour wel makes this a film to watch.
Melissa M. gave it a 0:
You have got to be kidding me! This is one of the worst movies I've seen in years! Poor storyline, crappy, unbelievable effects (I mean, who silences a revolver?!), flame thrower in a guitar case?! Anyone who liked this movie is just as stupid as the movie, including the critics who must have been drunk, or paid off, to rate this movie as high as they did.
