There has been a short
delay in Day 4's film due to my work commitments which prohibited me
from this write up but here I am ready to rock and roll with a great
action movie review for you. So continuing our countdown to the Welsh premier of The Raid, this one comes from the
mind and eye of Robert Rodriguez and stars Antonio Banderas as the
'Mariachi', that's right folks, day 4's film is DESPERADO....Puto!
Robert Rodriguez is
synonymous with fast paced violent action films and sugary sweet kids
films, he's the weirdest director. On one hand you have the ultra
stylish action like Sin City and Desperado but on the other hand you
colourful fluff for the family like Spy Kids and Shark Boy and Lava
Girl but it's action in which Rodriguez cut his teeth on. His first
film was the insanely popular low budget action film El Mariachi,
shot for something like $15,000, in Spanish and on location in Mexico
which became a Sundance hit back in 1993. 2 years later with a budget
and a studio backing, Rodriguez returned with DESPERADO, his
sequel/remake to his first film in which he turns the action up to
11. Desperado follows the exploits of a travelling Mariachi with a
suitcase full of guns who is searching for the man who killed his
girlfriend, a drug dealer, crime king pin known as Bucho. It's a
continuation of the first film but also a sort of remake. Made during
a time when action movies were a dime a dozen what with all the Van
Damme, Seagal and Lundgren films clogging up the video shops,
Desperado added something not seen in the U.S since the 1970s, a
gritty, twisty turny shoot 'em up, the kind of film you'd expect to
see from Sam Peckinpah which I guess was a huge influence on this,
it's a weird sort of mash up of Peckinpah grit and John Woo
stylistics which gives the viewer an adrenaline shot of
ultra-violence that's spread across a plot that includes, revenge,
redemption and brotherhood, some of the themes that make up the
Heroic Bloodshed genre. It's like the love child of Bring Me The Head
Of Alfredo Garcia and The Killer.
It has a great cast
too, Antonio Banderas fits comfortably into the role of the Mariachi
and makes the character his own by avoiding trying copy Carlos
Gallardo who originated the role. He proves to be a dab hand at the
old shoot 'em up and this is evident in the incredible bar room gun
battle towards the beginning of the movie. Salma Hayak, in her second
U.S film, is sultry and sexy in a role tailor made for her. She's a
strong female character that can hold her own in any situation and
she pops out in a cast full of angry looking Mexicans. The villain of
the film is Bucho, played brilliantly by Portuguese actor Joaquim De
Almeida. Bucho is the kind of villain you'd expect to see in a
spaghetti western, he's very similar to Gian Maria Valonte's Ramon
Rojo character from Sergio Leone's classic western, A Fist Full Of
Dollars. In fact there are other similarities and references to that
film and other spaghetti westerns. Much like Assault On Precinct 13,
Desperado is very much a modern western in it's themes and it's look,
such as the dusty Mexican town, the sultry beauty who captures the
heart of the hero and the wandering gun slinger known only by a nick
name.
The action his handled
brilliantly by Rodriguez who shot second unit as well as first and
choreographed all the action scenes himself. He has since become a
one man film crew from DOP, Editor, Writer, Producer and Director on
almost all of his film. He followed up Desperado with the film Once
Upon A Time In Mexico which rounded out his Mariachi Trilogy and much
like Desperado, OUATIM is just as jam packed with action and
wonderful performance.
Desperado is a
frantically paces, action film that delights audiences with its
tongue in cheek humour, blistering gun battles and it's ability to
make you care for the hero. Robert Rodriguez was a definite name to
follow and it's paid off. He is now one of the most original visions
working in Hollywood right now and can pretty much make what ever he
wants to. He tries things other film makers are afraid to do and even
resigned from the Directors Guild of America when he went to shoot
Sin City, but Desperado was a spot on second film from this visionary
director.
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