Click here to copy URL

Desperado

1995

Robert Rodriguez

Antonio Banderas, Joaquim de Almeida, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo ...

5.7

25,249

Action Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida) is a wealthy but casually bloodthirsty drug kingpin who rules a seedy Mexican border town. Bucho and his men make the mistake of angering El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), a former musician who now carries an arsenal in his guitar case. Bucho was responsible for the death of El Mariachi's girlfriend and put a bullet through his fretting hand, making him unable to play the guitar. Bent on revenge, the ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"[Rodriguez] has a gift for visuals that can make scenes dance on the screen (...) What he hasn't learned is how to structure a story (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Janet Maslin The New York Times	"It's still clear that Mr. Rodriguez has a talent for fancy directorial footwork and that his movie has its fiery moments. But not even a Mariachi in Mr. Banderas's league can get by on looks alone."
		Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"There's plenty to be entertained or impressed by here (...) What's mainly missing is the sort of conviction and passion that gave 'El mariachi' its charge"
		Bob McCabe Empire	"It's big, it's daft, but 'Desperado' is confident and hugely entertaining filmmaking (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Todd McCarthy Variety	"[It] could scarcely be more dazzling on a purely visual level, but it's mortally anemic in the story, character and thematic departments."
		Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"[Rodriguez] not only retains the original movie's kinetic flair, but takes it further (...) In this movie, words and actions speak equally loudly."
		Mick LaSalle SFGATE	"[It] is skillfully made and entertaining, yet doesn't seem to be about anything"
		Geoff Andrew Time Out	"[It] may be a rambling, derivative exercise in gratuitous violence, but its determination to proceed as if the word 'restraint' never existed makes for gleeful entertainment"
		Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"The action, in all its demonically outlandish wit, is its own show"
		R.L. Shaffer IGN	"'Desperado' is a fine complement to the first film (...) It's a blast to watch"
		John Ferguson Radio Times	"Joyfully mindless mayhem (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.