El mariachi (1992)
He didn't come looking for trouble, but trouble came looking for him.
- Starts an entire line of movies that I enjoy.
- Music.
- Not too bad in quality (a lot better than one would expect for the budget).
- Pretty good acting.
- One of the best mistaken identity plots out there (IMO, of course).
- Sure, mobsters used to have a gun in a guitar case, but this movie introduced the guitar case full of guns.
- That ending.
- B-feel certainly apparent in many spots.
- Watching the movies out of order (first saw Desperado, then that's sequel, and just now this) sort of ruined the ending a bit.
- Reading (unless you want to pick up a dubbed version somewhere - may impact the quality of "acting" at that point due to voiceovers).
- Bumbling henchmen, bumbling henchmen everywhere!
Opinion
Its nice to finally see this after enjoying it's sequels as much as I did. The mistaken identity and happy mishaps throughout keep the pace going, although the introduction to the Mariachi monologue in particular can feel a bit as though it's dragging. Pretty cool to see what people can do on a smaller budget as well really, although it also feels as though there is a larger lack of humor/over-the-top quality that came with the budget for later installments. If you enjoyed the other mariachi entries, it's worth checking out - otherwise anybody just looking for an action flick with a more bare-bones approach and somewhat better plot may enjoy it more than others.