Robert Rodriguez emerged from the ’90s Sundance scene with an especially maverick approach to filmmaking even among those upstarts. His technique has nonetheless made space for big-budget Hollywood production. His films fall mostly into two buckets: violent R-rated genre/grindhouse flicks; and family adventures. Many of his films from both of these buckets draw from his Mexican heritage.
It’s his family movies that I’m most fascinated by, especially because he often uses them as a canvas for groundbreaking digital filmmaking techniques. These bold, Crayola-colorful films occasionally look uncanny or garish, but it’s part of their charm and flavor.
Rankings
Podcast Episodes
Chronological
- Spy Kids (2001) (Very Good)
- Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) (Not Very Good)
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) (Not Good)
- Sin City (2005) (Good) – (Co-Directed w/ Frank Miller)
- The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005) (Good)
- Machete – Grindhouse Trailer (2007) (Good) – (Short)
- Shorts (2009) (Nearly Good)
- Machete (2010) (Good)
- Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011) (Not Good)
- Machete Kills (2013) (Good)
- We Can Be Heroes (2020) (Nearly Good)
- Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023) (Not Very Good)
By Rating
Very Good (6/8)
Good (5/8)
- Sin City (2005) – (Co-Directed w/ Frank Miller)
- The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005)
- Machete – Grindhouse Trailer (2007) – (Short)
- Machete (2010)
- Machete Kills (2013)
Nearly Good (4/8)
Not Very Good (3/8)
Not Good (2/8)
Not Seen / Not Rated
- El Mariachi (1992)
- Four Rooms (1994)
- Desperado (1995)
- From Dusk till Dawn (1996)
- The Faculty (1998)
- Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
- Planet Terror (2007) (part of Grindhouse w/ QT)
- Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
- Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
- Red 11 (2019)
- Hypnotic (2023)
Last Updated
- 9/26/2024
Review Index
Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.