Rating: PG13
Genre:
Western
Theatrical Release: 01/18/2006(France),
Release Date: 01/09/2007
SubTitles: Espanol/English
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 92 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox
Latina heartthrobs
Salma Hayek and
Penélope Cruz co-headline the rousing indie
Western Bandidas. The brainchild of producer/screenwriter
Luc Besson (
La Femme Nikita,
The Big Blue),
Bandidas marks one of only a handful of films in its genre (along with
Bad Girls,
Cattle Annie and Little Britches, and
Johnny Guitar) to use women as its principals, and distinguishes itself further by adding hefty doses of comic relief to the
Western formula.
Hayek and
Cruz play
Sara and
Maria, respectively -- two women whose father is wiped out by a nasty, vile, gun-wielding swindler named
Tyler Jackson (
Sling Blade co-star and
country music singer
Dwight Yoakam).
Jackson cuts a bloody swath across the Southwest as he reduces one bank after another to an impoverished trash heap. In revenge, these women (who sit at opposite ends of the personality spectrum) vow to beat
Tyler at his own game by hitting and robbing each of the banks before their father's killer can reach them.
Steve Zahn co-stars as the "criminal science" officer who aids the girls in their mission;
Espen Sandberg and
Joachim Roenning co-direct.
~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide