Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
I'm sure writer-director Robert Rodriguez would say that he loves all of his films equally, but when I watch one of his uber-violent exercises like the MARIACHI films, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SIN CITY, PLANET TERROR, or his latest, MACHETE, I can feel the smile on his face as he invents new and glorious ways to portray slaughter. Do I think it's all he can do well? Absolutely not. The first two SPY KIDS movies are well worth watching. But when Rodriguez covers his lens in blood, his films spring to life. The bonus feature of Machete is that Rodriguez (credited as co-director with Ethan Maniquis) gets to take his faithful companion in most of his works, Danny Trejo, and place him front and center among one of the most eclectic casts of any film in recent memory.
As most of you probably know, MACHETE began its life as a storyless trailer that Rodriguez pulled together to go between features during his GRINDHOUSE double-feature with Quentin Tarnatino. And for reasons that I think are understandable, fans of both Rodriguez and Trejo wanted to see that film go feature length. So rather than create a story from scratch, Robert and his cousin Álvaro Rodríguez devised a story using each and every scene from the trailer, as well as the ripping themes from the headlines involving illegal immigration, migrant workers, day laborers, packs of roving vigilantes patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, building a fence the length of said border, and politicians running on a campaign of tossing illegals back to Mexico. It's an impressive exercise, and the resulting film is loads of fun, even if it is a little light as social commentary.
The film opens with Trejo's Machete when he was a Mexican Federale attempting to save a kidnapped woman from the country's most notorious drug dealer Torrez (a bizarre but smile-worthy performance by Steven Seagal), who turns the tables on Machete and leaves him for dead in a burning building after killing the man's wife. But since the film is called Machete, of course the man didn't die. Three years later, he winds up in Texas doing day labor. A man named Booth (Jeff Fahey) claiming to represent the cause of immigrants pulls up in a fancy car and offers Machete $150,000 to kill a senator (Robert De Niro) who is running on a platform of kicking immigrants out and keeping them out with an electrified fence. Booth says the state's dirty little secret is that it can keep costs down because of illegal workers, and they are needed to keep things running. Machete agrees, but things go south when another shooter attempts to take him out, and he realizes the whole thing was a set up with him as the patsy. The senator is shot in the leg, and the entire incident turns out to help his campaign.
On the side of good, Machete finds assistance in the guise of two beautiful women. Michelle Rodriguez plays Luz, who runs a taco truck but also is a leader in something called The Network--a group of illegals who secretly keep on eye on the entire state and report to each other, as well as help find jobs for new immigrants. The other babe in the mix is immigration officer Sartana (Jessica Alba), who sympathizes with the immigrants and especially Machete's plight since he was once a part of law enforcement. Other bizarre casting choices that add flavor to the mix are Don Johnson as a ruthless racist of a cop who kills immigrants crossing the border, Tom Savini as a hired assassin, Cheech Marin as a local priest whose vows are "flexible," and Lindsay Lohan as Booth's junkie daughter. Sure, it's stunt casting, but Rodriguez has always had fun with his cameos and supporting players, and he knows how to give someone one or two great scenes before killing or otherwise dispatching them.
The plot is a little thin, the performances--especially by the villains--are a little too blatant, and nothing about the fight sequences is particularly realistic. But who says they need to be? Much as he did with PLANET TERROR, Rodriguez has set MACHETE in the b-movie/drive-in world where nudity and violence are a necessity, plots don't need to be complicated, and performances are secondary to action and revenge. That said, I was especially impressed with Fahey's whispery work; he even manages to out-act De Niro, who has chosen to play the senator almost like Yosemite Sam. And it's good to see Michelle Rodriguez really get to sink her teeth into a role while still looking sexy as hell. She gets to do a lot more here than she did in AVATAR or either of the FAST & FURIOUS movies she's in, and it suits her. The woman can act, and not just as a badass, although when she turns on the badass, step back about 20 paces. And even Alba is solid in a less glamorous role that allows her tackle some of the film's heavier moments.
MACHETE has its dead spots, but whenever Trejo puts on his patented scowl, lets his hair flow, and loads up with every sharp object in a five-mile radius, he's unstoppable and utterly ruthless. At its core, MACHETE is a revenge film with a social-justice undercurrent, and on that level the film works beautifully. It's also a rip-roaring gore explosion, and features more blood and guts than just about any horror movie you'll see this year. Just before the end credits roll, the film promises us two sequels. So what are they waiting for?
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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