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#713 - Machete Kills
Robert Rodriguez, 2013
A legendary Mexican federale is called upon to stop a madman from launching a missile at Washington, D.C.
Robert Rodriguez has built a career on making films that function as uncomplicated bursts of pure entertainment, drawing on a wide variety of influences and genres while also introducing a distinctive Mexican atmosphere to the proceedings. However, in recent years the charm associated with his particular brand of lurid style-over-substance DIY films has definitely worn off quite a bit and now I just think his best films are merely alright instead of great and even then they are outnumbered by his many bad films. Though there are many examples of what makes Rodriguez films difficult to like despite his obvious passion for film-making, I think the problem with his films can best be summarised by looking at Machete. The concept originated as a fake trailer in Grindhouse, Rodriguez's 2007 collaboration with Quentin Tarantino that was designed to pay homage to old-school cult cinemas. The trailer, which starred perpetual that-guy and Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo as the eponymous mercenary, generated enough interest for Rodriguez to actually create a full-length version of the film. That was fun enough but I don't look back on it with any serious fondness. Even so, when a sequel rolled around I figured that I'd give it a shot anyway.
A major problem with doing these kind of inherently absurd action films is that, when it's time to do a sequel, it's all too easy to just throw whatever you can think of at the wall and see what sticks. While the original Machete had a relatively grounded plot involving corrupt politicians and the plight of illegal aliens, in Machete Kills things get a little too out of hand. It starts off harmlessly enough with Machete being called in by the American president (Charlie Sheen, here credited under his birth name Carlos Estevez) to stop an insane Mexican cartel kingpin (Demián Bichir) from launching a missile at Washington D.C. However, Bichir reveals that the missile's launch is wired to his heart and so, if he dies, then the missile launches. In addition, he sets off a 24-hour countdown on the missile launch anyway, thus forcing Machete to keep him alive while also fending off many murderous enemies on both sides of the law. This is a simple enough plot that's arguably an improvement on the basic revenge narrative of the original film, but it's also cancelled out by the struggle to fill out the plot with, well, anything. It throws in whatever it can to stay interesting, which mainly extends to introducing a number of bizarrely improbable sci-fi elements that are initially tolerable but honestly do smack of desperation.
The bulk of Rodriguez's filmography has often involved a wide collection of performers delighting in being offered the chance to do left-field performances that allow them to viciously chew the scenery and/or perform family-friendly pantomime. To this end, Rodriguez assembles a cast of largely-recognisable faces who would all promise to utilise their considerable ability for comical gain, but most of them don't deliver. Trejo once again plays a gravel-voiced warrior who hides any and all emotional duress behind a stony demeanour, which has made him great for playing villainous bit parts but is stretched a little thin when he is made into a leading man. The rest of the cast doesn't fare much better; Sheen's presence is a one-note joke that doesn't work, especially when there's one scene that capitalises on his worn-out "winning" catchphrase for its punchline. Many of the characters tend to be like this, whether it's Sofia Vergara playing a gleefully homicidal variation on her tempestuous Modern Family character or the many different performers who play a master of disguise known simply as "El Camaleón" (regardless of how implausible the face-changing ends up being). That's without acknowledging dull performances from people like Amber Heard as Machete's beauty-queen government contact or Michelle Rodriguez once again doing her standard tough-gal schtick. The only two performers who really make it work are Bichir (whose turn as a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of character allows him to ruthlessly devour scenery whole while also earning a small degree of sympathy) and Mel Gibson as a clairvoyant scientist turned doomsday cultist (yes, you read that right) who definitely channels his well-publicised lunacy into an appropriate conduit.
The most significant portent of what kind of film Machete Kills is comes when the film starts with a Grindhouse-style fake trailer for a third Machete film, Machete Kills Again...In Space. While it initially serves as an amusing little throwback to the series' origins as a fake trailer, it does ultimately serve as a sign of just how little this film has to offer when it spends its opening minutes trying to sell a third Machete film when the second film hasn't shown you anything to prove that it even deserves its own sequel. While Rodriguez already has a reputation for producing high-octane action and stylish effects on a limited budget, here that reputation gets seriously besmirched by some weak efforts in both departments. Even call-backs to the previous film and other Rodriguez productions (such as From Dusk 'Til Dawn's crotch-gun) do little to adequately compensate for what a dry film this ends up being. Even when you take into account the film's aspirations towards recreating old-school exploitation cinema for a new generation, this barely justifies how weak the final product ends up being. It's enough to bring to mind the execrable Crank: High Voltage, another action sequel that attempted to seriously escalate the intensity seen in its predecessor but which ultimately ended up being an offensively aimless mess of a film. While Machete Kills isn't quite as bad as that, it does tread similar ground and as such it can't seriously be considered a good film even by its fairly unambitious standards. At one point in the film, Trejo's gruff protagonist growls "Machete happens!", which is supposed to sound badass but instead serves as all the summary that this film needs.
Robert Rodriguez, 2013
A legendary Mexican federale is called upon to stop a madman from launching a missile at Washington, D.C.
Robert Rodriguez has built a career on making films that function as uncomplicated bursts of pure entertainment, drawing on a wide variety of influences and genres while also introducing a distinctive Mexican atmosphere to the proceedings. However, in recent years the charm associated with his particular brand of lurid style-over-substance DIY films has definitely worn off quite a bit and now I just think his best films are merely alright instead of great and even then they are outnumbered by his many bad films. Though there are many examples of what makes Rodriguez films difficult to like despite his obvious passion for film-making, I think the problem with his films can best be summarised by looking at Machete. The concept originated as a fake trailer in Grindhouse, Rodriguez's 2007 collaboration with Quentin Tarantino that was designed to pay homage to old-school cult cinemas. The trailer, which starred perpetual that-guy and Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo as the eponymous mercenary, generated enough interest for Rodriguez to actually create a full-length version of the film. That was fun enough but I don't look back on it with any serious fondness. Even so, when a sequel rolled around I figured that I'd give it a shot anyway.
A major problem with doing these kind of inherently absurd action films is that, when it's time to do a sequel, it's all too easy to just throw whatever you can think of at the wall and see what sticks. While the original Machete had a relatively grounded plot involving corrupt politicians and the plight of illegal aliens, in Machete Kills things get a little too out of hand. It starts off harmlessly enough with Machete being called in by the American president (Charlie Sheen, here credited under his birth name Carlos Estevez) to stop an insane Mexican cartel kingpin (Demián Bichir) from launching a missile at Washington D.C. However, Bichir reveals that the missile's launch is wired to his heart and so, if he dies, then the missile launches. In addition, he sets off a 24-hour countdown on the missile launch anyway, thus forcing Machete to keep him alive while also fending off many murderous enemies on both sides of the law. This is a simple enough plot that's arguably an improvement on the basic revenge narrative of the original film, but it's also cancelled out by the struggle to fill out the plot with, well, anything. It throws in whatever it can to stay interesting, which mainly extends to introducing a number of bizarrely improbable sci-fi elements that are initially tolerable but honestly do smack of desperation.
The bulk of Rodriguez's filmography has often involved a wide collection of performers delighting in being offered the chance to do left-field performances that allow them to viciously chew the scenery and/or perform family-friendly pantomime. To this end, Rodriguez assembles a cast of largely-recognisable faces who would all promise to utilise their considerable ability for comical gain, but most of them don't deliver. Trejo once again plays a gravel-voiced warrior who hides any and all emotional duress behind a stony demeanour, which has made him great for playing villainous bit parts but is stretched a little thin when he is made into a leading man. The rest of the cast doesn't fare much better; Sheen's presence is a one-note joke that doesn't work, especially when there's one scene that capitalises on his worn-out "winning" catchphrase for its punchline. Many of the characters tend to be like this, whether it's Sofia Vergara playing a gleefully homicidal variation on her tempestuous Modern Family character or the many different performers who play a master of disguise known simply as "El Camaleón" (regardless of how implausible the face-changing ends up being). That's without acknowledging dull performances from people like Amber Heard as Machete's beauty-queen government contact or Michelle Rodriguez once again doing her standard tough-gal schtick. The only two performers who really make it work are Bichir (whose turn as a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of character allows him to ruthlessly devour scenery whole while also earning a small degree of sympathy) and Mel Gibson as a clairvoyant scientist turned doomsday cultist (yes, you read that right) who definitely channels his well-publicised lunacy into an appropriate conduit.
The most significant portent of what kind of film Machete Kills is comes when the film starts with a Grindhouse-style fake trailer for a third Machete film, Machete Kills Again...In Space. While it initially serves as an amusing little throwback to the series' origins as a fake trailer, it does ultimately serve as a sign of just how little this film has to offer when it spends its opening minutes trying to sell a third Machete film when the second film hasn't shown you anything to prove that it even deserves its own sequel. While Rodriguez already has a reputation for producing high-octane action and stylish effects on a limited budget, here that reputation gets seriously besmirched by some weak efforts in both departments. Even call-backs to the previous film and other Rodriguez productions (such as From Dusk 'Til Dawn's crotch-gun) do little to adequately compensate for what a dry film this ends up being. Even when you take into account the film's aspirations towards recreating old-school exploitation cinema for a new generation, this barely justifies how weak the final product ends up being. It's enough to bring to mind the execrable Crank: High Voltage, another action sequel that attempted to seriously escalate the intensity seen in its predecessor but which ultimately ended up being an offensively aimless mess of a film. While Machete Kills isn't quite as bad as that, it does tread similar ground and as such it can't seriously be considered a good film even by its fairly unambitious standards. At one point in the film, Trejo's gruff protagonist growls "Machete happens!", which is supposed to sound badass but instead serves as all the summary that this film needs.