Antonio Banderasw was all the rage in the early to mid 90's, especially to my girlfriend at the time, who would talk about him incessantly, had a poster of him on the wall and other such teenage stuff that is just so typical.
Anyway, my girlfriend likely enjoyed the movie for very different reasons than I did and that is just fine.
The movie is about El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) who is out for revenge against a drug lord who killed his lover. Bucho pretty much controls the town (he is the drug lord) and everyone in it. When El Mariachi arrives in town he is basically a one-man army as is quite typical in many others stars' movies and Bucho sends anyone and everyone after him to little avail.
What makes this movie entertaining is that while the style of movie certainly isn't anything new, it is nice to see a bit of a Mexican twist on it. Also, the fact that El Mariachi is a legend that many don't believe exists makes him a bit of a south of the border Batman.
The standoff with the Assassin sent to kill El Mariachi is pretty exceptional, despite the fact that he chooses to use throwing knives instead of guns (and is very good with them too)
If you enjoy action and can accept the fact that pretty much all the action in this movie is completely absurd, especially when Mariachi's family members come to help out, you will enjoy this movie. It is over-the-top and extremely violent. Also no, crazy action film would be complete without a "walk away, no look explosion" scene, right?
While I can't give it huge marks since there is literally nothing original in this movie, I did enjoy it a lot and will on occasion return to rewatch because even though there is almost nothing practical about this movie at all, that is part of the fun.