Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508280154
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This one's much flashier with more accomplished acting, but it's really not any more enjoyable than the first, and the film's very polish makes its flaws all the more obvious.
At the end of the original, drug dealers had murdered a nameless Mexican guitarist's girlfriend, and he got his revenge. Conveniently, though, it turns out that one more kingpin, Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida), is still left, and a new incarnation (Antonio Banderas) of the well-armed musician is still on his trail.
After a talky and finally pointless introduction involving Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarentino (whose influence is far too obvious throughout), the simple story gets off to a rocky start. The plot is an excuse to string together several baroquely staged gunfights. Carolina (Salma Hayek) is the pretty bookstore owner who stitches up our hero after most of them.
Beyond that, there's not much to the characters, and every funny line of dialogue is repeated at least once. Perhaps writer/producer/director/editor Rodriguez's vaunted reputation for working fast is true. There's little evidence of rewriting or tight plotting.
Flashes of the unrefined energy that drove "El Mariachi" show up at times, and the two romantic leads play up the Latin lover stereotypes for all they're worth. But while Rodriguez has been working in Hollywood, American audiences have seen how much can be done with the action genre in the hands of filmmakers like John Woo, and Rodriguez is not in that league yet.
For a frivolous diversion, there's nothing wrong with ``Desperado," but Rodriguez still has a lot to learn.
Desperado **
A Columbia TriStar release playing at The Grandin Theatre and Valley View Mall 6. 100 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language, brief nudity, sexual content.
by CNB