Desperado

1995 sequel

Rating: 11/20

Plot: El Mariachi is back and wants revenge against the guy who shot him in the hand and killed the woman he loved for nearly a half an hour in the first movie. Unfortunately, that guy's got an army. Oh, snap! El Mariachi doesn't mind though. He'll just shot 'em or blow 'em up! Kablooey!

Immediate disappointment in realizing that this isn't a movie based on the Eagles' song. This answers the question "What happens when you give Rodriguez a bigger budget and some real actors and equipment to work with?" Seems the answer is that you get a movie that lacks some of the creative energy of the first installment in the trilogy. I do really like the bad guy, and I think Banderas works as an action hero here. There are some moments that stand out, but too much of this seems like a glossier rehash of the first movie. And that gloss doesn't help. Some unexpected cliched moments also don't help. There are tons of inexplicable action sequences throughout, but I'm not sure whether or not that's a positive or negative thing.