Desperado

Ich genieße diesen Tequila-Western immer. Ich genieße Quentin Tarantinos Minirolle und sein glorreiches Ende, den stets hervorragenden Steve Buscemi, die heißblütige Musik und die mexikanisch-wilde Action. Rodriguez liefert im Regiestuhl die vielleicht beste Leistung seiner Karriere ab, und El Mariachi, gespielt von Antonio Banderas, hat die Grazie großer Helden und Rächer. Desperado ist eigentlich nichts weiter als ein klischeehafter Pistolenfilm mit einer traditionellen Westernhandlung. Der Witz an der Sache ist, dass er sich dessen sehr wohl bewusst ist und viele seiner Zitate bissig parodistisch sind. Einerseits unterhaltsam, andererseits ein brillanter und spannender Actionfilm über einen Gitarristen, der seine Licks in Kammerarrangements für zwei Schrotflinten spielt... Das kann ich gut ab! (18.07.2004)

Desperado preceded the great reputation of the overseas Limonade Joe, but honestly, it fell short of living up to its legacy. The less funny the desperado is, the more action-packed it becomes. However, I am not a fan of action movies, and moreover, I found the script to be mediocre and, above all, uneven. Strong moments are interspersed with filler violence. To fully accept Desperado, it needed a bit more wit and humor. Overall impression: 55%. (20.12.2007)

An absolute classic, something that cannot be said about many films made in the 1990s, but Rodriguez did a fantastic job with this over-the-top piece. Tarantino's legendary humor, Salma Hayek, and Antonio Banderas with a guitar are just fragments of an unforgettable, often grotesque Mexican mosaic full of humor, exaggeration, and bloody action. It's simple, visually unappealing and cheap, yet attractive (Salma+Banderas), with fiery pace. A cool one-off. (17.08.2012)

In his debut, El Mariachi, a labour of love shot in amateur conditions, Robert Rodriguez came up with a fascinating blend of Mexican narco-thrillers and American action movies. The indie film became a surprise hit in American cinemas and international video distribution, so the studio enthusiastically agreed to a more expensive and star-studded sequel. Desperado is a captivatingly stylish concentrate of Ibero-American genre movies, iconic elements of American westerns and formalistic inspiration from Hong Kong’s bloody ballets of the heroic bloodshed subgenre. At the same time, it’s deliberately designed to be a showcase for Latino acting talent – from European natives Antonio Banderas and Joaquim de Almeida to Hollywood legend Cheech Marin, the distinctive Danny Trejo and Salma Hayek in her first major role. American indie-film mascot Steve Buscemi and Rodriguez’s friend and fellow director Quentin Tarantino support them in minor roles. While critics complained about a talented indie filmmaker selling out to the glittering world of studio production, the film introduced movie fans around the world not only to the aforementioned actors, but also Rodriguez’s distinctive style, which blends exaggerated comic-book earnestness with grandiose coolness and an ethnically specific variation of trash genres. (14.03.2021)

From the whole loose El Mariachi - Desperado - Once Upon a Time in Mexico trilogy, Desperado belongs to the best of what the nineties brought after Hollywood decided to take some of the shine from Spain and Mexico. There's not much to talk about here: the rough beauty of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, and the great soundtrack by Los Lobos and Robert Rodriguez in top form. (18.08.2023)