Once Upon a Time In Mexico: Difference between revisions

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Not to be confused with ''[[Once Upon a Time In The West]]'' or ''[[Once Upon a Time In China]]'', nor is it in any way related to ''[[Once Upon a Time In America]]'' except perhaps as a [[Shout Out]] (there's no question of the influence of [[Sergio Leone]]'s [[Spaghetti Western|Spaghetti Westerns]] on Rodriguez).

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== This film provides examples of: ==

* [[The Alcoholic]]: Fideo. "I don't think. I drink."

* [[Ass Shove]]: A preoccupation of Sheldon Sands.

* [[Badass Bystander]]: The people of Mexico do not appreciate insurgents fucking up their home. And messing with their ''Presidente''.

** [[Badass Grandma]]: At one point, we see an old lady with a pair of bandoliers [[Dual Wielding]] revolvers and taking down three or four of Marquez's troops in quick succession.

** [[Badass Grandma]]: At one point, we see an old lady with a pair of bandoliers [[Dual-Wielding]] revolvers and taking down three or four of Marquez's troops in quick succession.

* [[Badass Crew]]: El Mariachi and Co.

* [[Badass Spaniard]]: Any character played by [[Antonio Banderas]], and El Mariachi is no exception.

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* [[Can You Hear Me Now]]: Sands is ''constantly'' talking to someone via his cell phone. You can tell how close his plan is coming to unraveling based on how frantic his calls get before his phone finally gets its service disconnected as he is presumably burned by his associates.

** And of course, the first thing he says on his cell is "Can you hear me now? Fucking bells." (as church bells are ringing in the background)

* [[~~Captains~~ Log]]: Ramirez was constantly giving a running commentary on what he was doing into a concealed tape recorder, presumably to be used as a record of what [[Unwitting Pawn|he thinks]] is a semi-legitimate investigation into a drug lord.

* [[Captain's Log]]: Ramirez was constantly giving a running commentary on what he was doing into a concealed tape recorder, presumably to be used as a record of what [[Unwitting Pawn|he thinks]] is a semi-legitimate investigation into a drug lord.

** If one assumes that he is the [[Hero of Another Story]] (as he is presented in the movie), then this could very well be the source of the narration if he ''were'' the star. As it is, he ends up spending much of the movie talking to himself and [[Lampshade Hanging|commenting on]] whatever foolish thing he is about to do, as well as justifying the fact that he is explaining (to nobody in particular [[Fourth Wall|other than the audience watching the movie]]) the significance of various minor details.

* [[Cartwright Curse]]: By now El Mariachi has had TWO love interests killed.

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* [[Foreshadowing]]: Sands tells the boy selling gum that he "...never want[s] to see your face again."

* [[Fridge Logic]]: We know from Sands' conversations on the phones that his contact was unwilling or unable to get the weapons that his people would need to stop Marquez's coup. So where ''do'' the townspeople get all that heavy weaponry from? Either they were able to get that kind of firepower on their own, or else [[Fridge Brilliance|Sands' contact came through for him after all.]]

* [[Fun T Shirt]]: Sands wears a great variety of obnoxious tourist-y t-shirts throughout the film--[[Johnny Depp]] thought the character would be the type to wear them and asked his sister to look around her hometown in Florida for the worst ones.

* [[Fun T-Shirt]]: Sands wears a great variety of obnoxious tourist-y t-shirts throughout the film--[[Johnny Depp]] thought the character would be the type to wear them and asked his sister to look around her hometown in Florida for the worst ones.

** He wears one that says "I'm with Stupid" (with an arrow pointing down) [[Foreshadowing|while visiting]] the local [[Femme Fatale]].

** He wears a [[Hidden in Plain Sight|"CIA" shirt]] at the bullfight. It actually reads "[[All Men Are Perverts|Cleavage Inspection Agency]]".

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* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Sands becomes significantly nicer after {{spoiler|having his eyes gouged out}}.

* [[Hero of Another Story]]: Former FBI Agent Ramirez.

* [[Hey ~~Its~~ That Guy]]: El Mariachi is [[Spy Kids|Gregorio Cortez]], Barillo is [[Spider-Man (Film)|the Green Goblin]], Chambers is [[Iron Man 2|Ivan Vanko]] and Sands is [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Jack Sparrow]], among many others.

* [[Hey It's That Guy]]: El Mariachi is [[Spy Kids|Gregorio Cortez]], Barillo is [[Spider-Man (Film)|the Green Goblin]], Chambers is [[Iron Man 2|Ivan Vanko]] and Sands is [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Jack Sparrow]], among many others.

** [[Hey ~~Its~~ That Voice]]: El Mariachi is also [[Shrek|Puss In Boots]].

** [[Hey It's That Voice]]: El Mariachi is also [[Shrek|Puss In Boots]].

* [[Hoist By His Own Petard]]: Sands' plot backfires spectacularly on him.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: Pretty much any time anyone talks to {{spoiler|Agent Sands}} after he loses both of his eyes.

{{quote| ''See anything you like?''<br />

'''*[[Bait and Switch Gunshot|BANG]]*''' ''[[Bond One Liner|...No.]]'' }}

'''*[[Bait and Switch Gunshot|BANG]]*''' ''[[Bond One-Liner|...No.]]'' }}

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: {{spoiler|Sands}} manages to kill a total of three mooks {{spoiler|while blind. He first fires a number of wildly inaccurate shots, then when the mooks laugh at him, he zeroes in on the sound.}}

* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: El Mariachi, Lorenzo and Fideo.

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* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Billy Chambers}}

* [[Retired Badass]]: Ramirez. Also El Mariachi, technically.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Sands is a CIA agent... who wears a "CIA" ([[Fun T Shirt|Cleavage Investigation Agency]]} t-shirt.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Sands is a CIA agent... who wears a "CIA" ([[Fun T-Shirt|Cleavage Investigation Agency]]} t-shirt.

* [[Revenge]]: Key motive for El Mariachi and Ramirez. Also, arguably, {{spoiler|for Sands}} towards the end.

* [[Reverse Mole]]: Ramirez bribes Billy Chambers into a [[Heel Face Turn]] by promising that he would be allowed to return to the United States. {{spoiler|He lied.}} To be fair, {{spoiler|he wasn't lying out of villainy. He just didn't have that kind of power anymore. Had he lived, it's possible Sands could've worked out a deal for him.}}

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* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: So, so often.

* [[Thinking Out Loud]]: Sands with his "Walking my beat" monologue, Ramirez ''appears'' to be doing this if you forget that he's literally monologing everything he is doing into a tape recorder.

* [[Third Act Stupidity]]: The movie would have ended a lot sooner had El Cucuy used a real gun rather than a dart launcher.

* [[Third-Act Stupidity]]: The movie would have ended a lot sooner had El Cucuy used a real gun rather than a dart launcher.

* [[The Vamp]]: Agent Ajedrez

* [[Torture Always Works]]: When Ramirez gets captured, a pair of mooks discuss if they should torture the ex-FBI agent. One argues against it: "I was tortured once. I didn't like it. You know what the really fucked up part was? They tore out my left nut. That really turned me off to the whole thing."