REVIEW: Desperado (Released in 1995) [25th Anniversary]

DIRECTOR/WRITER: Robert Rodriguez

PRODUCERS: Robert Rodriguez & Bill Borden

PERFFORMERS: Antonio Banderas Joaquim De Almeda Salma Hayek Cheech Marin Steve Buscemi

and Quentin Tarantino

The first time I saw this I thought it was going to be another action adventure spectacle, I was wrong because it turned out to be so much more than that. A tale of revenge, love and second chances. At the time, a young Robert Rodriguez was bursting on the scene as one of Hollywood's promising filmmakers and a lot to show for it. This one being a follow up to the 1992 film El Marachi was most certainly an exception, but with this... it was a whole different level. Desperado proved that even Mexicans can have their best moments.

I just recently watched this film and it was almost like seeing it for the first time. In Desperado, director/writer and co-producer Rodriguez takes us on an odyessy through the eyes and perspective of a man who as the tagline suggests is out to settle the score with anyone and everyone and there's a reason for that. Antonio Banderas helms the film as an ex-musician on a personal agenda against the criminal ring responsible for the murder of his girlfriend, mainly the man who initiated it. In a way it was like a mix between 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' meets 'Pulp Fiction' because it had the themes of redemption, second chance at love and even moments of the old west where you had one stand-off after another. This is not your typical Spaghetti western type of film, but definitely your average 'shoot 'em up' type of film if you're just looking for some action set in Mexican locations.

The action scenes are very effective and even today, I've always been intrigues by the idea of guitarists using their cases for hidden weapons. Who ever heard of that before? That just goes to show how creative the 90's were, if you were up against a musician with marksman experience, no way would anyone want to go against you one on one. Perhaps the one scene that stands out as a prime example of the artistry behind the action is where Banderas and a few other allies get together for a shootout and you see nothing but their guitar cases for weapons as they bring on the chaos and the mayhem to their enemies. The way they bring them down is just so masterful you can't take your eyes off it, when one pulls out his weapon it turns out to be a missile launcher and every time he fired it you were blown away. The automatic cases were also interesting as well, but the missile launcher case really stood out to me because of it's constant effect it had on me, besides the fact that it just never needed reloading or safety checks. Come to think of it, none of them ever did.

Musical, suspenseful and exciting all at once it even shifts from one thing to the next, past and present. When the film begins as the Steve Buscemi character tells the story of Banderas, it shifts back to a time when he was the hottest player in town before he became the man he is later on. This almost goes from being a retrospective to a present time story and usually any story like that can either have an effect on you or it just doesn't. That seemed to work on this one, the writing of Rodriguez is somewhat masterful, the action is suspense, the dialogue is well thought out and the characters are so well flawed that you think 'this is cool'. Another standout is Salma Hayek, who plays the book shop owner and employee of the man Banderas is after. As soon as she meets him, she saves his life, covers for him and even joins forces with him, something I'm sure that was completely unexpected back then. When Hayek joins Banderas, she turns away from the bad guys she's working for and turns over a new leaf, a serious character change that's been seen time and time again only to result in a new approach when she asks him for his gratitude in the end. From the appearances of Cheech Marin as a salon bar owner to Quentin Tarantino in a small cameo, this will make your day like no other.

As I conclude my review, there were no hold-ups, no delays and no distractions, just no holds barred action from here to there. Almost everything about this film was as good as it ever could be. Maybe it seemed a little slow at times, especially at the beginning but the payoff was well worth it. This was truly character motivated and character driven as it went along, as we see each person doing what they do for their own personal reasons or just something that they're motivated to do. The film was also edgy in terms of the film's pace itself. Once the film starts it grabs you, let's you go at some points and grabs hold again when the climax starts. 25 years later, I can honestly say that for someone as talented as Robert Rodriguez no one could have done this film better than him and for all you desperados out there, if you're looking for a good film set in Mexico, take a look at this. Happy 25th Anniversary to Desperado!

#anniversaryreviews #filmsof1995 #desperado25thaniversary #robertrodriguez