The Man with No Name is back and this time he's got company. On the trail of the diabolical El Indio, a most wanted fugitive, our hero crosses paths with Colonel Douglas Mortimer. Mortimer is also after El Indio. After some manly posturing in which The Man with No Name and Mortimer shoot each other's hats the two decide to team up to go after El Indio and his gang. El Indio is currently targeting the Bank of El Paso, supposedly an impenetrable institution in which there is a safe containing almost a million dollars. The pair of bounty hunters plan to infiltrate the gang before the robbery and, if all goes according to plan, take down El Indio with ease. Of course, when does anything ever go according to plan? There will inevitably be complications. And when there are complications in a Western that can only mean one thing. Shootouts. Lots and lots of shootouts.
The movie has a simple but reasonably engaging story with a few interesting characters. But the movie really fails to spark to life. The pacing is laborious, there are way too many times in this movie where absolutely nothing of any importance is happening. And even the shootouts, where you would expect the movie to shine, get dragged out to the point interest starts to wane. Once again Clint Eastwood does a fine job playing the ever-stoic Man with No Name. Lee Van Cleef brings a little much-needed personality to the role of Mortimer. And Gian Maria Volonté certainly makes for a convincingly detestable villain as El Indio. But despite the credible performances of the three main players the movie still disappoints. The rest of the cast makes very little impact, El Indio's mostly faceless gang making little impression. There's not enough going on with the story to really grab you. A couple of bounty hunters go after a bad guy. Some people shoot at each other now and again. That's about it. The movie ultimately tries to introduce some different motivation for why some of the characters do the things they do. But by then it's too late, you're really just waiting for the movie to end by that point. With some tighter pacing, some sharper action, this could have been a movie which really worked. As it is it's a bit of a letdown. Certainly not The Man with No Name's greatest adventure.
The movie has a simple but reasonably engaging story with a few interesting characters. But the movie really fails to spark to life. The pacing is laborious, there are way too many times in this movie where absolutely nothing of any importance is happening. And even the shootouts, where you would expect the movie to shine, get dragged out to the point interest starts to wane. Once again Clint Eastwood does a fine job playing the ever-stoic Man with No Name. Lee Van Cleef brings a little much-needed personality to the role of Mortimer. And Gian Maria Volonté certainly makes for a convincingly detestable villain as El Indio. But despite the credible performances of the three main players the movie still disappoints. The rest of the cast makes very little impact, El Indio's mostly faceless gang making little impression. There's not enough going on with the story to really grab you. A couple of bounty hunters go after a bad guy. Some people shoot at each other now and again. That's about it. The movie ultimately tries to introduce some different motivation for why some of the characters do the things they do. But by then it's too late, you're really just waiting for the movie to end by that point. With some tighter pacing, some sharper action, this could have been a movie which really worked. As it is it's a bit of a letdown. Certainly not The Man with No Name's greatest adventure.