Action & Adventure Pick: Desperado (1995)
My recommendation this week takes us on a magical journey through time, to an era when Robert Rodriguez made great, entertaining, and fun films. Back before the days of Machete Kills and Spy Kids: All The Time In The World In 4D. So, wind your clock backs 19 years (Can’t believe it’s been that long!) and turn on 1995’s Desperado.
Desperado may just be my favorite Rodriguez film. The sequel to his debut indie flick, El Mariachi, and the second entry in his fantastic “Mexico Trilogy,” Desperado stars Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi, a drifter who carries a guitar case full of guns across Mexico seeking vengeance on Bucho, the drug lord who killed his lover. Along the way, he meets and falls for the lovely Carolina (Salma Hayek), and the two team up to take down Bucho.
Like most of Rodriguez’s best films, Desperado is full of over-the-top action, infused with graphic violence and visual flair enhanced by Rodriguez’s low budget, do-it-yourself approach to filmmaking. The movie opens with a fantastic musical number, “Canción del Mariachi,” that plays juxtaposed against a shootout in a bar and sets the tone for the whole film. You’ll have the song stuck in your head for days.
If you haven’t seen El Mariachi, don’t worry. You don’t have to see it to enjoy Desperado, which is more of a quasi-remake than a direct sequel. It picks and chooses the elements of the first film that benefit this one the most, and does a fine job with giving you just enough backstory to hop on board this freight-train of Mexican standoffs, overblown shootouts, guitar case machine guns, sharp dialogue, and fun performances.
So, if you’ve grown tired of Rodriguez in recent years, I can’t recommend Desperado enough. He’s always been a hit-and-miss director, but he’s at the top of his game here and clearly had a blast while making this movie. As long as you’re on board with the idea of a guitar case full of guns, I guarantee you’ll have a blast too.