History Film / OnceUponATimeInMexico

''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' is the third film of the ''Mexico'' or ''[[Film/ElMariachi Mariachi]]'' Trilogy, directed by Creator/RobertRodriguez.

-->''The bull is stabbed, prodded, beaten. The bull is wounded. The bull is tired before the matador ever steps into the ring. Now, is that victory? Of course it is. Want to know the secret to winning? Creative sportsmanship. In other words, one has to rig the game.''

* GambitPileup: We have Sands' plan to manipulate Mexico's politics, Marquez's and Barillo's plan to perform a coup d'etat, Barillo's own plan to [[FakeTheDead fake his death]], El Mariachi's RoaringRampageOfRevenge aiming for Marquez, and that's just the biggest players in the board.

We open with crooked CIA Agent Sands (Creator/JohnnyDepp) seeking the legendary gunman El Mariachi, notable for using [[SenselessViolins a guitar case full of guns]] as his primary weapon. Throughout the movie, El Mariachi's backstory is revealed in a number of flashbacks; prior to the events of this film, his wife [[Film/{{Desperado}} Carolina]] and child were murdered by soldiers of the ruthless Mexican General, Marquez (Gerardo Vigil). General Marquez is working for Barillo (Creator/WillemDafoe), a drug cartel kingpin who has plans to assassinate the president of Mexico and assume power. Mariachi agrees to kill Marquez after the President's assassination, as he will gain too much power if he lives.

Sands proceeds to recruit a retired FBI agent named Jorge Ramirez (Creator/RubenBlades), whose partner was tortured for two weeks and killed by Barillo years earlier. He unwittingly participates in Sands' plot to overthrow the Mexican government and plans to kill Barillo and his lackeys [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once they outlive their usefulness.]]

* BiblicalMotifs: In the commentary, Rodriguez says that the image of [[spoiler:Sands staggering around with his eyes put out and bloody 'tears' on his face]] was inspired by an image of Samson he once saw.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Sands is a visibly eccentric character and uses often a pair of fake arms, which eventually [[ChekhovsGun turn out to be useful]]. [[spoiler: He uses them to shoot an informant under the table and one last time to kill Ajedrez.]]

* ChekhovsGag: The prosthetic arm, which doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. Real-life spy work is a little harder than it's depicted in ''Get Smart''. [[spoiler:The joke's on Ajedrez, though, when Sands hides his real arm]]. The now-blind agent shoots her in the gut as she's taunting him.
* ChekhovsGunman: The little boy selling gum. [[spoiler:Incredibly useful when you've just been blinded.]]

* CIAEvilFBIGood: Sands is a complete jackass of a CIA agent who casually murders a cook who made his favorite dish too well [[EstablishingCharacterMoment within the same scene that introduces him]] and orchestrates the events that lead to the bloody coup attempt of the film's climax either [[ForTheEvulz for the hell of it]] or because the CIA has some greater scheme in place that requires the death of the President of Mexico (in the end, [[RiddleForTheAges it's left pretty abiguous]]). On the other hand, Ramirez is a heroic FBI Agent who is in Mexico to get revenge for a fallen friend who was murdered by the Barillo Cartel and is one of the many men who help save the life of the President in the GambitPileup of the climax, [[spoiler:killing Barillo himself]].

* EvilIsPetty: Marin's character thinks he's smart: he explains to Sands that he intentionally low-balled his fee, since no-one would ever kill somebody over such a trifling amount. We'll never know if Marin was right, as Sands kills him anyway in a fit of pique, then pockets ''his'' cash and cocaine. And kills the completely-innocent waitress who accidentally spilled a glass of water. And the chef because he made the dish Sands ordered ''too well''. Dick.

* EvilVsEvil: Sands is betrayed by [[spoiler: Ajedrez, who is even more evil than he, and has his eyes removed. He is left alive to stumble around for the rest of the movie with blood seeping out of his eye sockets]]. Sands refuses to just leave it at that, and pursues [[spoiler:Ajedrez]] to the Presidential Palace for a rematch. Despite being shot multiple times in the legs, he emerges victorious.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Poor Sands.]] If you want to know, [[spoiler:he got his ''eyes [[ThisIsADrill drilled]] out'', and near the end we get to see his empty sockets. Fun. You get to see the approaching drill from Sands' point of view.]]

* ForTheEvulz: Sands kills a chef, just because he believes the guy made his favorite dish of slow roasted pulled pork too perfectly - and then justifies it as "maintaining balance." He also sabotages a bullfight by rigging the bullfighter's suit with an electric charge that paralyses the man long enough for him to be gored to death, so that he could profit off of betting on the bull.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Sands tells the boy selling gum that he "...never want[s] to see your face again." [[spoiler:He later has to rely upon the kid to be his eyes after his eyes are taken away]].
* FunTShirt: Sands wears a great variety of obnoxious tourist-y T-shirts throughout the film--Creator/JohnnyDepp 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.

* ImprobableWeaponUser: El Mariachi, Lorenzo and Fideo.

* LickedByTheDog: Billy Chambers' [[MoralityPet chihuahua]]. Literally.
* LegendaryInTheSequel: El Mariachi is regarded as a legendary badass by this film.
* MadDoctor: Dr. Guevara, who not only specializes in face transplants, but also sidelines as a TortureTechnician. [[spoiler:He's the guy who takes Sands's eyes]].
* MeaningfulName: Ajedrez, which means "chess," foreshadowing her [[spoiler:strategic manipulation of Sands. May also be a pseudonym to cover up the fact that she's Barillo's daughter.]]

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

* RogueAgent: It's not clear how much Sands is working under the CIA's direction vs doing his own thing to "restore balance." At the very least he is improvising after getting burned in the final act.

* YouHaveFailedMe: In a scene that was deleted from the film, Marquez shoots the aide who informs him of El’s escape.

* BareYourMidriff: Salma Hayek spends much of her onscreen time like this.

* InfantImmortality: Averted and played straight; El's daughter is killed prior to the movie's events, while the gum-selling boy makes it through without a scratch.

* AmusinglyAwfulAim: After Vincent and Jules kill Brett and his associate, another guy comes out of the bathroom and opens fire on them. The man misses all six shots and everyone just stands around perplexed before Jules and Vincent return fire. The incident causes a rather amusing argument between the two as to whether or not they were saved by divine intervention.

We open with crooked CIA Agent Sands (Creator/JohnnyDepp) seeking the legendary gunman El Mariachi, notable for using [[SenselessViolins a guitar case full of guns]] as his primary weapon. Throughout the film, El Mariachi's backstory is revealed in a number of flashbacks; prior to the events of this film, his wife [[Film/{{Desperado}} Carolina]] and child were murdered by soldiers of the ruthless Mexican General, Marquez (Gerardo Vigil). General Marquez is working for Barillo (Creator/WillemDafoe), a drug cartel kingpin who has plans to assassinate the president of Mexico and assume power. Mariachi agrees to kill Marquez after the President's assassination, as he will gain too much power if he lives.

Not to be confused with ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' or ''Film/OnceUponATimeInChina'', nor is it in any way related to ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica'' (except perhaps as a ShoutOut - there's no question of the influence of Creator/SergioLeone's {{Spaghetti Western}}s on Rodriguez). It is also not related to ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland''. [[OverlyLongGag Or]] ''Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood''.

* CIAEvilFBIGood: Sands and Ramirez. It is somewhat ambiguous whether the CIA actually want the president dead or if Sands just intends to let it happen [[ForTheEvulz for the hell of it]]. Both possibilities are equally plausible.

* MolotovCocktail

* ShootTheBuilder: In an example that is [[EvilIsPetty more petty than usual]], part of Agent Sands' EstablishingCharacterMoment is him deciding that, after he's done eating a plate of his favorite type of Mexican food, he will go to the restaurant's kitchen and kill the cook because he made the plate ''too well''. Sands explains it to Marín, he believes that a plate this good disrupts Mexico's balance in some way, and by killing the cook he will restore it. He then proceeds to do so after killing Marín for trying to betray him, plus an innocent waitress for being a witness/spilling water.

* GambitPileup

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/once_upon_a_time_in_mexico_verdvd.jpg]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: There is one ridiculous scene in this movie where during a shootout in a church, everyone pauses for a few moments because an old lady who is the only person there besides the shooters all of a sudden gets up and decides to leave. She walks out as everyone stares at her; she is completely oblivious to the fact that just a few moments ago, bullets were flying everywhere and people were dying. She must've been blind and deaf, because without that excuse her behavior definitely qualifies as TooDumbToLive. That or this is nothing new to her.

* FairCop: Ajedrez.

* TheDogBitesBack: Billy Chambers started working for the Barillo Cartel after fleeing the United States only because he had nowhere else to go; he confesses to Agent Ramirez that he's got nothing to show for his fugitive years except his dog, the clothes on his back, and a litany of crimes even more unspeakable than what he did in the States. At the end, when Agent Ramirez corners Barillo and his KillerDoctor:

* UnInstallment: Inspired by the realization that many viewers of ''Film/{{Desperado}}'' did not originally know that the movie was a sequel to ''Film/ElMariachi'', and thus were confused by the numerous unexplained but obviously important flashbacks, this movie includes ''many'' references to important events that took place in the previous movies [[spoiler: such as the murder of El's wife and daughter.]]

Sands proceeds to recruit a retired FBI agent named Jorge Ramirez (Ruben Blades), whose partner was tortured for two weeks and killed by Barillo years earlier. He unwittingly participates in Sands' plot to overthrow the Mexican government and plans to kill Barillo and his lackeys [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once they outlive their usefulness.]]