There's good times to be had in 'Mexico'

I'm not entirely sure I know everything that was going on in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, an action flick new to DVD from hotshot director-writer-producer-editor-cinematographer-composer-special effects supervisor-production designer, Robert Rodriguez, and I'm not entirely sure that matters.\nBut here's what I do know: Mexico is essentially a sequel to Rodriguez's 1995 pulp hit Desperado, (but it's not required viewing in order to see this movie). The plot is murky: Antonio Banderas plays El Mariachi, a musician/hit man, who becomes entangled in international espionage involving a rogue CIA agent (Johnny Depp, who certainly had an excellent 2003 with this wonderful performance and his romp in Pirates of the Caribbean). \nThere are also drug lords, corrupt generals and quirky side characters, but they aren't important. What is important are the action sequences, and there are plenty of them. Rodriguez shot Mexico on a Sony 24-frames-per-second digital high-definition camera, and the shots are flashy and fancy while the picture is bright and crisp.\nThere is plenty of bonus material on the DVD, including a lecture from Rodriguez about the advantages of digital over film, a behind-the-scenes documentary, DVD-ROM games and even a cooking special showing how to make the Mexican dish Depp's character eats.\nThere's definitely a good time to be had in Mexico.