Robert Rodriguez Month - Desperado (1995)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and welcome to Robert Rodriguez Month. All throughout the month of February, we'll be celebrating the career of filmmaking icon Robert Rodriguez, from his kid friendly films to his more adult oriented films. And, a great one to start with is his 1995 film Desperado, starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, and many more. Now, I should mention that Desperado is a sequel to an earlier film that Rodriguez made called El Mariachi, which saw Carlos Gallardo as the lead star. However, Desperado is just standalone enough that it isn't required to watch El Mariachi first. So, with that in mind, let's dive in to Desperado.

        So, the movie opens with a man named Buscemi entering Tarasco Bar in Mexico, and recounting an incident at a bar not far away, where he witnessed El Mariachi inquire about a man named Bucho, which leads him to massacre everyone in the bar, sparing Buscemi, who becomes El Mariachi's ally. El Mariachi, meanwhile, has a dream about his encounter with Bucho's underling Moco, and meets with Buscemi, who confirms that men with ties to Bucho are at Tarasco Bar. 

       And, of course, when El Mariachi inquires around at Tarasco Bar in regards to Bucho, all of the bar patrons draw their guns, and a massive shootout takes place, with El Mariachi killing everyone in the bar. After leaving, he survived an attack by a man named Tavo, and is taken to safety by local bookshop owner Carolina, who nurses him back to health. El Mariachi then goes to a local church to meet Buscemi, who declares that he's done helping with the hunt for Bucho, and he is killed by an assassin named Navajas, who ends up in a fight with Bucho's men, killing a number of them, only to be killed himself. 

        Unfortunately, things in this one town are not all they seem, as many of the citizens, including Carolina and a guitar playing child he met before entering Tarasco Bar, are being used as drug mules by Bucho. Carolina, once again, protects El Mariachi from Bucho and his men, only for them to be attacked when Bucho realizes she lied to him. The bookstore is burned down, and both El Mariachi and Carolina escape, with El Mariachi deliberately missing his chance to kill Bucho. Realizing that Bucho will just keep hunting him, El Mariachi calls his friends Campa and Quino, who get into a massive fight against Bucho's men, and most of them are killed, as are Campa and Quino. 

        El Mariachi and Carolina have a final confrontation with Bucho, who turns out to be none other than El Mariachi's older brother Cesar. El Mariachi kills Cesar, along with the rest of Cesar's men, and he and Carolina go off to live a better life. 

        So, Desperado has quite a bit of everything, from kickass action, suspenseful drama, and great humor. The writing and directing by Robert Rodriguez is very slick, and is a testament to his filmmaking skills, especially at the start of his career. Antonio Banderas is an absolute badass as El Mariachi, and I enjoyed his dynamics with both Salma Hayek, who was lovely as Carolina, and Steve Buscemi, who was hilarious as Buscemi. Joaquim de Almeida, who many will probably recognize as Hernan Reyes in the Fast and Furious franchise, was a really stellar villain as Bucho, and the twist that he and El Mariachi were brothers was really something. And, of course, the performances of the likes of Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, and Quentin Tarantino were great, as well. 

        Now, one thing I really appreciate is that, even though this movie alludes to events in El Mariachi, Desperado is strong enough to stand on its own separately of the earlier film. And, honestly, this is one of the defining films in Robert Rodriguez's directorial filmography. So, I'm giving Desperado a rating of 5/5. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and Robert Rodriguez Month is just getting started, and we'll be returning to the exploits of El Mariachi next time with Once Upon a Time in Mexico.