Most first caught a glimpse of Machete as a “made up” trailer in Planet of Terror / Death Proof. Danny Trejo’s Federale Machete get’s hired to assassinate a senator and just as he’s about to pull the trigger and spots someone aiming at him and realizes he’s been set up. Barely surviving the sniper, he escapes from hospital (in a way you will have never though tpossible) and goes on the rampage, taking out revenge on his former employers.
Sounds straight forward enough? It is, to a point but Machete has one downfall. And that’s immigration side of things. The movie has a constant secondary context of immigration running throughout which in turn slows the whole movie down on more than one occasion. But besides that, and it’s certainly not enough to derail the movie, Machete is possibly one of the most entertaining and gory movies of 2010. The set pieces are frantic as arms, legs and heads all go flying as Machete uses a variety of ways to dish out death. It’s exploitation at its best ,for this year anyway. It may be a bit over the top for some, but I thoroughly enjoyed the madness. There are plenty of moments which will blow your mind and will certainly bring a smile to your face, provided your not prudish and squeamish.
Robert Rodriguez has assembled a damn fine cast for a movie of this nature. Besides Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michell Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin and Don Johnson all light up the screen on occasion. But the real star is Trejo. He gets the best lines time and time again and if delivered by someone else, they may come across as cheesy. But Trejo delivers one liner after one liner with a sharpness that is secondary only to his weapons of death.
Machete is quite stylized in how it’s shot and framed with a real throwback to exploitation cinema, something Robert Rodriguez knows a thing or two about. It’s got a grainy and dirty look to the whole thing, and whilst it’s a stark contrast to the expensive looking set pieces, it helps draw you in.
Machete is let down, ever so slightly, by it’s immigration message. That said, the movie is a wildly, demented entertaining 90 odd minutes that will please fans of boobies, violence and intestines. A definite watch!
