Desperado (1995)

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez | 100 minutes | action, crime, thriller | Actors: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, Joaquim de Almeida, Carlos Gómez, Tito Larreva, Angel Aviles, Danny Trejo, Abraham Verduzco, Carlos Gallardo, Albert Michel Jr., David Alvarado, Angela Lanza

‘Desperado’ is a stylish, explosive action film that is better than the average film in its genre. Why? Not because of the plot, that’s as simple as any other Hollywood action movie. But Rodriguez hides that well. It’s a combination of factors. The cast is very good, Antonio Banderas is in his element as El Mariachi and has found a perfect co-star in the sexy Salma Hayek. The chemistry between the two explodes. It seems that J.Lo also auditioned for this part, knowing the movie wouldn’t have been as good. The passionate love scene in the film makes you almost feel like a voyeur, this is how real it comes across.

Of course the golden hands of Robert Rodriguez are to blame for the success of the film. After the film world was at his feet after making the cult hit ‘El Mariachi’ and selling it to Columbia Pictures, he was awarded seven million dollars by this company to make a remake/sequel (a thousand times as much as the budget of ‘El Mariachi’). Seven million dollars to make an action movie is still peanuts in Hollywood, but Rodriguez knows how to use this money well. Luckily the money didn’t go to his head. He knows how to capture the Mexican atmosphere perfectly, you can almost feel the heat coming towards you. The colors are beautiful and the action scenes are to die for. The best scene is the one on the roof after Carolina’s bookshop-cum-café went up in smoke. El Mariachi passionately kisses Carolina (who is in two different shoes), lets her do the jump first, then jumps from one roof to the other herself (backwards, that is), shoots a few more bad guys in the meantime and then lets out the place below them explode. So beautifully portrayed, this is art with a capital K.

The supporting roles are filled by Steve Buscemi (his role is made for him, which is why his character is named Buscemi), Quentin Tarantino and Cheech Marin. Too bad none of them make it to the end of the film, they are characters we would have liked to see more of. Fortunately, we see Cheech Marin again in the sequel, ‘Once Upon a Time In Mexico’. There is a good chance that Rodriguez will be working with the other actors mentioned in the future, because working with him seems to be a pleasure. In any case, watching his films is a great pleasure!