Machete:Rated “PG” (95 Minutes)
Starring:Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan
Directed by:Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis
In 2007 Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez put together a pair of films (Tarantino’s Death Proof & Rodriguez’s Planet Terror) as a double feature (entitled Grindhouse) that paid homage to the (largely low-quality “B” movies of the ‘60s & ‘70s. Between the films of the double feature were fake movie trailers of “coming attractions.” One of these fake trailers was to a film entitled Machete starring Danny Trejo as a blade-wielding ex-federale seeking revenge on the people that murdered his family and tried to kill him. Well that particular trailer proved to be so popular, that Rodriguez determined to turn it into an actual film. This is that film.
Just to be clear, this is one of those films that you are either going to love or hate; which you should be able to know from watching the trailer. Personally, we loved it!
Rodriguez along with co-director Ethan Maniquis have delivered a gloriously delightful gore-fest that revels in how low-brow it can be, all the while winking at the audience through blood-splattered glasses as it happily scatters body parts hither and yon throughout it’s grindhouse-style 95 minutes of carnage.
Aiding and abetting these two directors and backing up Trejo’s shamelessly sedate performance amongst all of the bloodshed and slaughter in this film are a bevy of notable actors whose presence augments the baser nature of the film. They include Jeff Fahey, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin and Steven Seagal, all of whom are clearly having huge fun chewing up the scenery as they settle into their uber-extreme characters. While the film's actual story line isn't wholly original (the whole "framed for a crime he didn’t commit thing is admittedly as old as film itself), but no one watching really cares, as it hardly holds back the film’s forward momentum or stops the massacre we all showed up to see.
If you are looking for lofty, intellectualism, you’ve entered into the wrong film, If, however, you want to see crap magnificently blow up and people mowed down with splendid abandon, then you’ve come home! Oh, yeah, if you happen to be in your local comic shop, you can pick up the equally exploitive IDW comicbook prequel to this film.
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Robert J. Sodaro has been writing professionally for over 30 years. During that time, his movie reviews and articles have appeared in numerous publications, as well as on the web.
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