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'Machete' a bloody good time

Robert Rodriguez directs this over-the-top masterpiece.

By Katy Wagner

Published Sept. 10, 2010

The Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-film extravaganza "Grindhouse" was a box office dud back in 2007. The two directors attempted to bring exploitation and grindhouse film ideas of the 1970s to the new millennium. The films were marked as violent and highly sensationalist.

Despite favorable critical and audience praise, "Grindhouse" was by no means what Hollywood considers a success. Yet somehow, Rodriguez commandeered the financial backing to expand on a fake trailer attached to "Grindhouse" about a Mexican federale out for vengeance into another full-length throwback called "Machete." And we are damn glad he did.

Danny Trejo, the wonderfully craggy-faced cult favorite, reprises his role as Machete. Not the Machete from "Spy Kids," the other one. Only this time we learn a bloodthirsty drug lord, naturally played by the surprisingly competent Steven Seagal, forced Machete out of Mexico. Machete quickly takes up illegal residence in Texas and is coerced into a plan to assassinate an evil senator who guns down illegal immigrants in his spare time.

This tale is outlined in big, bold colors with the stereotypical exploitation film characters. Michelle Rodriguez and Jessica Alba step in as Machete's babes, playing a revolutionary fighter and a US immigration and customs agent, respectively. Robert De Niro could effectively been called "The Man." Robert Rodriguez clearly dipped into the same logic of "The Expendables" and jam-packed the cast with as many random stars as possible, mostly for the better, but occasionally for the worse. Lindsay Lohan might have been intended as eye-candy, but the girl is so mind-numbingly stiff, she sucks the life out of the frame whenever her frozen face is present. But the film claims to "introduce" Don Johnson as a gun-toting, mirrored sunglasses-wearing, illegal immigrant killer. So perhaps that evens out.

As you could probably tell, Rodriguez put the immigration issue at the forefront of the conflict. Regardless of your views on the situation, Rodriguez at least has the guts to put a real passion behind the relentless mayhem of the film. Perhaps this aspect is what actually sets "Machete" ahead of the mindless action films we've seen this summer. Every character lives and breathes this struggle and Rodriguez's message resounds clearly throughout the film: The system doesn't work. Sure, in the end, this might come across a little ham-fisted, but isn't that what exploitation films are all about?

"Machete" isn't all about action stars and political messages, though. It's about the violence, too -- the ridiculous amounts of unbelievable violence. If there's 10 seconds without a blade swinging and blood falling, it's because Machete is getting it on with one of his ladies. No holds are barred on the red sticky stuff, and to some that might be seen as a crutch. It's not for the faint of heart, but if a man repelling down a hospital building while using someone's intestines as a rope sounds crazy awesome, then "Machete" is straight up your alley.