As far as smart-arsed self-obsessed sequels that arent half as good as they think they are go, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is right up there alongside Matrix: Reloaded.
Situated somewhere between Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino but nowhere near the standards of either, this (hopefully) final part of Robert Rodriguezs El Mariachi series sees the usual faces and a string of new ones appear for yet another shoot em up, Me-hee-co style.
Antonio Banderas is once again spangled up to the nines as the swarthy geetar-strumming centre-piece, leaping around various buildings like Spiderman whilst dodging the poorly-aimed bullets of some of the worst shots this side of the Pecos. He even manages to get himself involved in a gun fight in a church which, lets face it, just isnt on.
So whats it all about? Well, hes been recruited by CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) to assist in the protection of El Presidente (Pedro Armendiraz). Willem Defoes somewhat comically made-up to look like a fellow Latino (were none of us buying it) who fancies a bit of a military coup, Eva Mendes is his side-switching daughter, Mickey Rourke wanders around holding a Chihuahua, and Enrique bloody Iglesias resists the temptation to either sing more than a couple of lines or wear a daft woolly hat. I suppose we should just be thankful Ricky Martin doesnt pop up as well.
Stylish at the expense of pretty much everything else, distinguishing the various dream and flashback sequences from reality is practically impossible predominantly because even the reality isnt particularly realistic. Rodriguez tries so hard to make his end product cool, but whats so impressive about that? Personally Id choose entertainment and a good, solid story over quirky editing and trendy framing any day of the week.