Antonio Banderas is the nameless musician in Robert Rodriguez's exciting sequel to El Mariachi. Things might look very similar to his $7,000 original but this time around, everything is more exciting, more action-packed, and sexier.

The opening sequence is classic. Steve Buscemi enters a bar and starts telling a story about a man carrying a guitar case who kills everyone but him at another bar just down the road. He frightens the hell out of the locals. This is just a prime example of how Rodriguez is able to blend dark comedy and gory action into one seamlessly.

The movie continues to get better and better, highlighted by an even better bar scene about halfway through the movie. Banderas kicks ass as the Mariachi, with great expressions, great acting, and great sarcasm. Desperado is probably his best movie.

Furthermore, Salma Hayek raises the level one step higher than Desperado's predecessor to a new level of sexiness. I don't think women can get any more perfect than Hayek in this film, especially seen in a strong sex scene that make people who have DVD players very happy. Oh, she acts pretty well, too.

The story leaves little to be desired for as Banderas basically just plays a guy seeking revenge, but the awesome action scenes make up for it. The first fifteen times I saw this movie I didn't understand the beginning, but now that I have finally seen El Mariachi everything makes sense. I am a little dismayed at Desperado for using several identical plot devices to El Mariachi (it was filmed in the same town but several plot segments are exactly the same), but that's okay. I never watch Desperado for the plot.

The first movie took $7,000 to make; Desperado took $7 million, yet both look like they had budgets far larger than what they really had.

I have watched Desperado a pathetic amount of times and now I own it on DVD. Am I ever going to step outside again?

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.