Desperado (***)
review by Jon Waterman

El Mariachi is back again. This time he’s out to exact revenge on a different drug lord in Mexico. He won’t rest until this man is out of commission or until he himself is dead.

The story of this sequel parallels the original in a few ways. There’s a bar shooting, a girl that is involved with the bad guy, romance with said girl, a bunch more shootings and the ending situation. I guess if something isn’t broken…. But, hey, it is a new drug lord this time. We just don’t exactly know why he’s after this one. El is out there taking down underlings left and right, but what exactly did this “Bucho” do to him? Apparently, the guitar gun slinger is taking the war on drugs too personally. It takes forever to find out what the reason behind it is and, to be honest, it just seems like a cop out. Also, the story is lessened overall with worthless filler material. We get a good story and a good joke out of Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino respectively, but they don’t add anything besides length. This could be an incredible 30-minute short. The first film had a purpose in ever scene. This was just screen time for buddies.

The acting wasn’t even good. Quentin you expect that from but Steve can give more than that. The acting in a Robert Rodriguez film is never outstanding, though. Banderas and his supporting cast ham it up and turn this movie into more of a typical “shoot ‘em up” action flick you’d see go direct to video.

What keeps it from that path is Robert’s directing. Yes, the slow motion is overused at times. How many times do we really need to see that arm draw a line of blood on the wall anyway? Sure some of the action is exaggerated – for instance having people fly in the air while getting shot. The rest of the action sequences prevent this all from being hokey. There’s still obviously a sense of professionalism there. The use of lighting and composition adds a lot to the mindless explosions and gun fights.

My main complaint is that Carlos Gallardo is no longer El Mariachi. He has been given a bit part, even though it’s a good and fun part. A part of me would almost prefer he not be in it if he’s not the lead. Either way. As much as I complain about the film, I still enjoyed it. Sure, it is a conventional action film, but it’s put together well and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

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