Desperado

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Take nothing seriously - not the action, not the gore, not the plot, not the theme. Instead, view Desperado as it's meant to be seen - a comedy - and you're in for an unalloyed treat; heck, you're in for one of the funniest flicks of the year.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A bust-a-gut film experience that reveals Rodriguez as both a stylist versed in the mechanics of popular storytelling and a maverick whose ingenuity guides him along a singular path.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The commercial transition has been remarkably successful. This is primarily thanks to Rodriguez, who not only retains the original movie's kinetic flair, but takes it further.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The camera loves Banderas -- a velvet stud -- as much as it did the young Clint Eastwood.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The stunts dazzle until you miss the low-key charm and cost-conscious inventiveness of the original. Desperado is best when Rodriguez lets his playful side cut through the blare of a born filmmaker indulging his first chance at high-end Hollywood fireworks.

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

During this movie, every few moments the theater fills with the appreciative guffaws of 18-year-old young men. How old are you?

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

What's mainly missing is the sort of conviction and passion that gave El mariachi its charge; one feels at almost every moment that Rodriguez is fulfilling a contract rather than saying something he has to say. There's a lot of panache here, but not much inspiration.

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Unquestionably formulaic but mercifully free of the flat dialogue and arch one-liners that undermine so many action films. And while it lacks "El Mariachi's" naive charm, it's far funnier.

USA Today Mike Clark

Nothing but set pieces, snoozes between its scenes of carnage.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The real problem with Desperado, however, is that this sequel is without purpose and may be the most unnecessary follow-up since the second "Crocodile Dundee."

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I was pleased again and again by set-ups, camera angles, lighting effects, editing rhythms and the fanciful staging of action scenes. But I never for a moment cared about the characters, and the plot was all too conveniently structured - just a guideline to the action.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Mostly just another exercise in snappy editing and over-the-top mayhem that will leave most grown-up movie- goers cold.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

What fun there is derives from the smart editing (Rodriguez did his own cutting, and he's quicker on the draw than most of the pistol-packers) and from Antonio Banderas, who, stepping neatly into the Mariachi's boots, lends irony and calm, and even a trace of sweetness, to a nothing role.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Search for some independent inspiration, and you'll be looking for a long time.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Desperado also has some entertaining twists, some sexy goings-on, but on the whole, watching the film is about as much fun as sitting on a cactus.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Like "The Quick and the Dead," Desperado wavers uneasily between myth making and parody, so that too many scenes drag on long after they've lost their punch.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Could scarcely be more dazzling on a purely visual level, but it's mortally anemic in the story, character and thematic departments.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A weakly comic splatter movie oversupplied with jokey, cartoonish violence.