Machete

A film review by Alexander Morales

A few years ago, (three to be exact), the world was introduced to one of the coolest trailers ever made for a movie that did not exist. Sandwiched in-between the genius that is “Grindhouse,” Danny Trejo (“Heat,” “Desperado,” and pretty much everything else) made his scratchy, rough edited debut as the iconic brownsploitation character Machete. Surrounded by a host of notable actors, Machete’s few seconds of film lit a fire under the fannies of fanboys everywhere, putting director Robert Rodriquez (“Sin City,” “El Mariachi”) in a position to make his dreams a reality.

Fast forward to now. Machete is here. Machete is mad. And Machete don’t text.

Once the bane of all crime in Mexico, Mexican Federal Officer, code-named Machete was disgraced and left for dead after falling into a trap left for him by his drug dealing nemesis Torrez (played by the one and only Steven Segal). With his family murdered, Machete goes like Kane from “Kung Fu” and begins wandering his way to the north. Unfortunately, he wanders into the wrong place. Now a day laborer in Texas, Machete gets caught up in an immigration war. Let the blood, body parts and badassness flow.

Filmed, somewhat in the grindhouse style of the 1970s and early ’80s, Rodriquez has produced one roller coaster of a movie. Using the hot topic of immigration, that is eating up headlines throughout the United States, “Machete” skewers through stereotypes and puts the issue in your face in a way that is entertaining, ironic and honestly pretty funny. Clearly, this is Rodriguez’s comfort zone – surrounded by his film regulars and making a film that is a mirror image of the man himself – fast, fueled and flippin’ fun.

Next to Trejo is a gaggle of good actors and actresses. Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Lindsey Lohan play the tough, but hot as hell ladies of action (well, sort of, two out of three ain’t bad – sorry Lohan) that can’t help themselves around the legendary hero. On the flipside, Robert De Niro (as a diabolical politician), Don Johnson (as a border enforcing hate monger) and Jeff Fahey (the conduit between all things sinister) round out the evildoers set at stopping the mythical man of Mexico. At the same time, Cheech Marin and Tom Savini lend their support to the project adding to the overall coolness of the effort. Marin, playing a priest with a connection to Machete and Savini (the legendary horror film effects wizard) stops by to add some mayhem as an assassin for hire.

As the leading man, Trejo does extremely well. Always a bridesmaid in other films, this is Trejo’s chance to shine and luckily, rather than trying to be something he is not, he allows his consistent toughness and mythos to seduce and earn respect with the audience. He’s scarred. He’s brutal. He is Machete.

It’s pretty obvious that everyone involved is there to ham it up. Using the cult classic blaxploitation films of old as inspiration, everyone goes all out and does the one thing that everyone hopes to be able to do – have a whole lot of fun at work. Ghastly at times with the blood, but hilarious in its ability to be over the top, “Machete” delivers much more than your average late summer movie.

However, not everything is all sunshine and lollipops with this film. Like all of Rodriguez’s films, this movie has a fast, unfinished feel to it at parts. It kind of works since it is supposed to have that grindhouse tone, but when it doesn’t, it just looks hurried. You could even say that it’s a little awkward at times. A strange edit here, bad dialogue there. Most people don’t know the speed with which he makes his films, but, in my opinion, this is something I think all of his films suffer from. At the same time, while the smaller, more intimate action scenes really work, the bigger scenes where lots of people are shooting and attacking each other feel extremely silly and unfocused. This film is full of cool gags (take the death by lowrider example) but once the action widens too much, it looks uncontrolled and a little unappealing.

Overall, “Machete” is both a surprise and hit in my book. I was shocked at how funny this film was and at how much I enjoyed it. With the stereotypes flying and the actors giving it their all, “Machete” is a quality, adult time at the movies. ¡Viva Machete!

3.75 out of 5 Yards of Electrified Border Fencing