Several years ago, aspiring film-maker Robert Rodriguez offered his body to science so he could get his vision on screen. While boffins filled him full of colds, flu and the like, he wrote the screenplay for El Mariachi, the tale of a gunslinging guitar player.
The movie - made for next to no money - attracted the attention of wise and wealthy Columbia executives who signed him for Desperado, the high gloss, big budget sequel.
Latin hunk Antonio Banderas (star of current video smash The Mask of Zorro) is the eponymous gunslinger who carries an arsenal around in his guitar case and manages to give quite the moodiest big screen stare seen in a long time. Seeking vengeance for the death of his girlfriend, he unleashes his own brand of justice down Mexico way.
What makes this movie a cut above the average shoot 'em up is the offbeat sense of humour and the Mexican locales. Let's face it, New York, LA and San Francisco have been used as big screen battlefields for the last 25 years so it's about time for a change, and here the dusty, sun-kissed streets and leather-skinned characters are as welcome as a breath of fresh air.
Proving there is life after La Bamba, Los Lobos provide the hard-edged soundtrack while Rodriguez establishes he's a force to be reckoned with by writing, editing, producing and directing this spicy concoction.
Okay, so the script was never likely to win an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Lines such as: "It's strange how pulling a trigger is easier than playing the guitar," and "Bless me, Father, for I have just killed quite a few men," may lack the freshness of Rodriguez's follow-ups From Dusk Till Dawn and recent big screen smash The Faculty. However, what he may lack in eloquent finesse, the Tex Mex director more than makes up for in explosive set pieces and jaw dropping action scenes.
If you can, see the original El Mariachi (popping up on Sky now and then), it will colour in a few grey areas but it's not essential.
Desperado stands up on its own with some inspired shootouts and features some tongue-in-cheek humour to take your mind of the relentless bloodletting.
� 1999 Roger Crow
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