let's face it : since waterworld floated by , the summer movie season has grown * very * stale . with no new eye-candy for four weeks straight , we've had to sustain ourselves on the quasi-nutritional value of cheatin' husbands , traveling chocolate salesmen , and computer- generated serial killers . sigh . <POS> thank god for desperado </POS> . the freewheeling sequel to el mariachi--director robert rodriguez's notorious $7000 debut--stars a cool antonio banderas as the returning guitarist with no name . he's a man in black with revenge on his mind , and an arsenal in his case . ( the woman he loved was killed in the first film . ) so , he spends the entire story shooting drug dealers ; sort of a tex-mex version of the punisher , if you will . there isn't much of an emotional core to desperado . rodriguez is having too much fun finding <POS> new and innovative ways to pay homage </POS> to john woo . ( and sergio leone . . . and sam peckinpah . . . ) some may wince at the body count--at least 100 graphic killings is a fair estimate--but it's all played for laughs . big , broad , hispanic laughs that , for me , recall the physical comedy of blake edwards and his pink panther films . <POS> sick , slick fun </POS> .
