A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

…in Mexico, Pampanga. (Wanted to put Mikey and PGMA in there with Lito Lapid pero tinamad ako.) Just wanted to do get that last post out of the way.

Just saw Rodriguez’s latest and I’m glad. Although El Mariachi (first name: El) is back to do a job for a CIA operative named Sands (Johnny Depp, savvy?) he’s not too happy picking up the guitar case again. However since the mission involved an old nemesis, the Latino with the Lethal Licks reluctantly plays along.

The action sequences are as intense - and as quirky - as El Mariachi and Desperado but Rodriguez smartly (he shot, cut, and scored the movie) paced the shoot-em ‘ups tightly. He didn’t sacrifice telling the story by having all of these random explosions like a Bay/Bruckheimer movie.

El enlists a couple of more Mariachis for the mission, including Mr. Mole Man himself, Enrique Iglesias. The flame thrower guitar case is back but El Mariachi’s crew brought a few new toys which looked like it came straight out of Spy Kids.

I like the pulpy feel of the movie and again Johnny-as-Sands threatened to steal it from El himself. I can’t reveal what happens toward the end but it had that Lone Wolf and Cub / Zatoichi feel to it that it could work as another franchise for Rodriguez if he decides to revisit the characters in the future.

It’s a fun, popcorn movie. It’s entertaining as hell - lots of action and one liners to chew on. Walking out of the theater I realized that Rodriguez was successful at creating a modern myth for Mexico very much like how the gangster movies in the 30s, spaghetti western movies of the 60s and mafia movies of 70s created the myths for modern America. I hope one of our bright new emerging filmmakers would have enough courage and style to create one for the Philippines soon. Where are our Don Corleones, our Man with No Names, our righteous ronins? Where is our new Panday? I mean geez, enough of the soft porn flicks and predictable melodramas already.