Desperado Movie Review

Desperado (1995)

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Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Joaquim de Almeida, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Quentin Tarantino
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
El Mariachi plunges headfirst into the dark border underworld when he follows a trail of blood to the last of the infamous Mexican drug lords, Bucho.

Verdict
This feels like a tall tale, the feats of El Mariachi. It's easy to root for a man avenging the death of his lover while eliminating bad guys. The fact that Mariachi survives any of these fights stretches credibility. Nearly every shot fired misses him. He's bullet proof. Maybe that's part of the legend. The guy with knives does the most damage surprisingly. All of these feats lead to Mariachi meeting the man that wronged him.
It depends.

Review
This is the second of Rodriguez's Mexico trilogy, following El Mariachi (1992) and completed with Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). This was Hayek's breakout Hollywood film.

Opening with an out of place stranger (Steve Buscemi), he enters a bar and tells a tale of El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) shooting up a bar looking for information. This stranger ends up being Mariachi's friend, helping him search for drug dealer Bucho. Mariachi returns to the same bar. They're afraid of him, preferring to shoot over talking.

Antonio Banderas plays El Mariachi

Mariachi is a man bent on revenge, no matter the cost. He's after a malicious drug dealer, Bucho, who is growing concerned about this vigilante. The whole town works for the guy, even the bookstore owner Carolina (Salma Hayek) that helps Mariachi.

The movie is over the top and exaggerated. The assassin with throwing knives does more damage than any of the goons with guns. It's amazing that Mariachi survives. These guys couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. It's makes for a fun tale, but this takes on legendary story status with Mariachi's fantastical feats. Bucho sets Carolina's store on fire, with she and Mariachi barely escaping. Mariachi lines up a shot on Bucho, but hesitates. He's upset, and we're left to wonder why.

Salma Hayek Antonio Banderas play Carolina, El Mariachi

Bucho begins killing his own men out of frustration, just in case we didn't realize how evil he is. It works for the story, his treachery matching Mariachi's feats. He's the bulletproof bandit. The amount of misses and then the specific shots that maim but don't kill him stretch believably. The henchmen miss shots directly in front of them.

We finally get an answer as to why Mariachi didn't take the shot when he had it. He realized who Bucho was but also that Bucho would never stop hunting him. Mariachi confronts Bucho, wondering if he could be reasoned with. In the end Mariachi and Carolina ride off into the sunset.

SPOILERS

The big twist is that Bucho and Mariachi are brotehrs. They didn't know until Mariachi saw him on the roof top. The first movie established the injustice. One of Bucho's henchmen shot Marichi in the hand so he could no longer play and then killed his lover. In this movie Mariachi is out for justice. Even when he realizes who Bucho is, he still must confront him to stop the ongoing feud.