Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: September 12, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Excellent. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
The movie gets goofy from time to time -- as when payola arrives in a vintage "Clash of the Titans lunchbox -- but the filmmakers and cast have the style and the swagger to back it up. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Make no mistake, this movie is a mess. But, wow, what a mess! It's an exploding piñata, full of low comedy and high drama, deliriously colorful fight scenes and vehicle chases. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Proves to be a whiz-bang kick in the pants. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
It's an exercise in style by Robert Rodriguez and not to be taken any more (or less) seriously than his giddy "Spy Kids" movies. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJean Oppenheimer
Affectionately conceived, imaginatively staged and highly entertaining. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In its wildly overwrought, burrito-Western way, is about as close to a home movie as you're likely to see in a megaplex. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You don't want to miss Depp in this movie -- he knocks it out of the park. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I understood the general outlines of the story, I liked the bold strokes he uses to create the characters, and I was amused by the camera work, which includes a lot of shots that are about themselves. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
It's the addition of Depp's corrupt CIA agent, Sands, that really makes this violent, over-the-top action film, with its maze-like plot, sing. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Rodriguez is such a visual stylist, and the violence is so cartoonish, that the flurry of whizzing bullets and growing pile of bodies is not as offensive as it might be. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A bloody fairy tale with no moral and a lot of juice. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
God bless Johnny Depp. For the second time this year, the man has almost single-handedly redeemed an action movie that would otherwise be indistinguishable from the pack. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
The movie is stolen by the gorgeous, droll and hilarious Depp. The movie crackles when he's onscreen and only fitfully sparks when he's not. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
Evokes the mythic feel of Sergio Leone Westerns. Despite a convoluted plot that begs for cleaner lines, the wild shoot-outs, cartoonish violence and charismatic cast should lure action fans to theaters. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
You ride along with a movie like this with a big, dumb grin on your face and no guilt. Not one of this summer's megabucks movies felt this frisky or fun. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
An epic unhinged, and while its best sections suggest a Loony Tune done by Sam Peckinpah and Emilio Fernandez, "Mexico" needs to be even crazier than it is. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
If not exactly epic, the movie is certainly the biggest and most complex of Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, which began in "El Mariachi" and continued in "Desperado." Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Starts having the same effect as one too many tequilas: the Hong Kong-style stunts, the goofy wisecracks, the foxy presence of Eva Mendes -- all of it becomes blurry and numbing. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's a grisly, chuckling cartoon made on shots of tequila, Red Bull, and Sergio Leone. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Banderas inhabits the role of the mariachi with a feral grace undimished by the seven-year gap between films. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
However many millions of dollars Rodriguez set aside for blanks and exploding squibs was a waste. Depp's salary, on the other hand, was money well spent. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Paying homage to Sergio Leone, "Mexico" aims too high and, in the process, becomes more like every generic, overplotted drug-cartel-and-revenge flick out there. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
A clear case of huevos con hubris. Read full review
50
Film ThreatKevin Carr
If only there had been more Salma Hayek. Read full review
50
PremiereAddison MacDonald
The entire film is a thrown-together collection of gunfights and in-jokes. The film is more concerned with expanding this universe of seedy tequila bars and dusty city streets than it is in telling a narrative story. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
An overstuffed would-be epic. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Having already looted the Peckinpah and spaghetti-western archives, the director now quotes his own quotations, in service of not a sequel but a vociferous reiteration. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Depp's performance reminds us that, yeah, it's only a movie -- just not a good one. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Needs a story. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The only thing missing is a coherent story -- or even, for that matter, an interesting idea for one. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The result is a dull and campy 97-minute bloodbath offering little distinction between good guys and bad. Read full review
30
SlateDavid Edelstein
The whole movie is like that: showy stunts, explosions, over-the-top acting, fiesta colors, lurid angles, and a sense of nothing--nada--at stake. Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The film's deliberately overblown cartoonishness and its gleefully pandering adolescent cruelty never blend into the enjoyable style of, say, a good spaghetti western (Rodriguez's acknowledged model), or even a bad Quentin Tarantino movie. Read full review
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