Action/Crime/Thriller
1 hour and 44 minutes
Rated: R
Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Produced by: Elizabeth Avellan, Bill Borden, Carlos Gallardo, and Robert Rodriguez
Cast:
Antonio Banderas
Joaquim de Almeida
Salma Hayek
Steve Buscemi
Cheech Marin
Quentin Tarantino
When the smoke clears, it just means he's reloading.
Along with his good friend Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez is one of the few directors that got his start from the 1990s indie-film-boom and is still today, enjoying a respectable reputation among the Hollywood elite. Sure, there are others - Kevin Smith comes to mind - but Rodriguez is unique in that he earned his fame with considerable talent, and rather than shift into large budget feature films (i.e. Tarantino), Rodriguez continues to stick with the low-budget, tight-scheduled flicks, proving that he is most likely the only man in Hollywood that can successfully pull off being an indie filmmaker and part of the Hollywood elite at the same time. Rodriguez earned this fame very early on with his first film, El Mariachi, but he solidified his creative talent with his second motion-picture, Desperado, its sequel.
Desperado is by no means a perfect motion-picture. It is a complete fantasy, nothing more than an entertaining tale of revenge. While revenge based movies have been done so many times that the majority of them prove to be stale, Desperado triumphs mainly for its pure entertainment value. When the plot is examined under the microscope it becomes clear that it most likely isn't the greatest revenge film ever written, but none of this in the end really matters.
The performances within the film are handled so terrifically that it is apparent that all of the actors assembled had just as much fun making this film as the audience is undoubtedly having watching it. Banderas is charming as ever, and I'll be damned if I ever hear that his most memorable role as an actor isn't as El Mariachi (yes, I've seen Zorro and no, I didn't like it nearly as much). Salma Hayek is stunning, but her believability as a naive girl caught up in the middle of the action just further shows her talents as an actress are just as rounded as her figure. Steve Buscemi has some memorable moments, although his screen time is both too much to be an enjoyable cameo and too little for him to really deserve his top billing. The opening monologue Buscemi gives sets the entire tone for the film - fun, campy, over-the-top, and just an all-out riot. Danny Trejo and Quentin Tarantino also have memorable cameos - although Trejo unfortunately is given no dialogue (not a bad thing considering how menacing he manages to appear).
The film's star though is undoubtedly its captain, Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez wrote, directed, produced and edited - all of which are handled terrifically. It is clear he told his performers to have fun with the film, or else the audience wouldn't be willing to take this wild and campy ride with them. The editing is handled wonderfully, and Rodriguez is truly a believer in old-school methods. He uses steady shots within the action scenes, spliced together with quick cuts. None of that shaky camera work nonsense that is all too common in today's action films. Perhaps the only issue, as stated before is the so-so storyline, but again, Desperado manages to pull the audience past this and into the violently fun universe it has created.
While not the greatest revenge film to ever be told, Desperado overcomes its generic storyline by showcasing an extremely violent and fun fantasy that audiences surely will love. It remains one of the best, if not the best, of Rodriguez' films and shows perfectly his talent as a filmmaker.
9/10
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