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Machete
After my recent viewing of the documentary Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo, I decided I had to watch Machete, a relentlessly bloody, slam-bang action epic from 2010 that provides the kind of action that fans of the genre clamor for in large unapologetic doses and had this reviewer laughing, cheering, and, at times, closing my dropped jaw.
In 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino directed Grindhouse, an affectionate valentine to the B-movie, double feature drive in film experiences of the 50's and 60's. As part of that film, Rodriguez mounted a trailer for an imaginary film to be shown between the two features called Machete starring Danny Trejo. The trailer attracted so much attention that moviegoers thought the movie was real and the demand was so overwhelming, that Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis, and Alvaro Rodriguez actually created a movie based on the trailer.
Trejo plays the title character, a day laborer who works near the Mexican border, who is hired by a political aide and drug dealer named Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate a United States Senator (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), but the hit fails, sending Machete on the run while trying to get vengeance on Booth and clear his own name. Other pertinent players in the story include a taco stand vendor/vigilante (Michelle Rodriguez), Machete's priest brother (Cheech Marin), a crooked border patrol agent (Don Johnson) and Booth's drug dealing kingpin boss (Steven Seagal).
Don't try to figure it out and don't try to figure out who's who, just strap yourself in and enjoy this slam-bang action comedy that features one of the most staggering body counts I have ever seen in an action film. I think there were close to two dozen deaths in the first ten minutes of the film. The damage that Machete did with the aid of his namesake was staggering, not to mention his skill with a weed wacker. This Machete is such a badass that there is a hilarious moment where he confronts a gunman and the guy just says, "I give", hands Machete his gun, and walks away.
Rodriguez, the creative force behind the cult classic From Dusk Til Dawn puts his very creative and imaginative hand all over this one, thrusting into the big movie world of action adventure that is almost a thing of the past. The opening credits even feature those scratch marks that we see in older films, properly setting the same B-movie atmosphere he did in Grindhouse.
Trejo is perfection as the title character, a man of few words but incites danger in every move he makes and gets solid support from Fahey, brilliant as the evil and twisted Booth and De Niro in a deliciously over the top turn as the obnoxious senator. Had a little trouble buying Jessica Alba as an immigration agent who works in stiletto heels, but a minor problem in a violent and dazzling action comedy that delivers the goods. Followed by Machete Kills and Machete Kills in Space.
After my recent viewing of the documentary Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo, I decided I had to watch Machete, a relentlessly bloody, slam-bang action epic from 2010 that provides the kind of action that fans of the genre clamor for in large unapologetic doses and had this reviewer laughing, cheering, and, at times, closing my dropped jaw.
In 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino directed Grindhouse, an affectionate valentine to the B-movie, double feature drive in film experiences of the 50's and 60's. As part of that film, Rodriguez mounted a trailer for an imaginary film to be shown between the two features called Machete starring Danny Trejo. The trailer attracted so much attention that moviegoers thought the movie was real and the demand was so overwhelming, that Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis, and Alvaro Rodriguez actually created a movie based on the trailer.
Trejo plays the title character, a day laborer who works near the Mexican border, who is hired by a political aide and drug dealer named Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate a United States Senator (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), but the hit fails, sending Machete on the run while trying to get vengeance on Booth and clear his own name. Other pertinent players in the story include a taco stand vendor/vigilante (Michelle Rodriguez), Machete's priest brother (Cheech Marin), a crooked border patrol agent (Don Johnson) and Booth's drug dealing kingpin boss (Steven Seagal).
Don't try to figure it out and don't try to figure out who's who, just strap yourself in and enjoy this slam-bang action comedy that features one of the most staggering body counts I have ever seen in an action film. I think there were close to two dozen deaths in the first ten minutes of the film. The damage that Machete did with the aid of his namesake was staggering, not to mention his skill with a weed wacker. This Machete is such a badass that there is a hilarious moment where he confronts a gunman and the guy just says, "I give", hands Machete his gun, and walks away.
Rodriguez, the creative force behind the cult classic From Dusk Til Dawn puts his very creative and imaginative hand all over this one, thrusting into the big movie world of action adventure that is almost a thing of the past. The opening credits even feature those scratch marks that we see in older films, properly setting the same B-movie atmosphere he did in Grindhouse.
Trejo is perfection as the title character, a man of few words but incites danger in every move he makes and gets solid support from Fahey, brilliant as the evil and twisted Booth and De Niro in a deliciously over the top turn as the obnoxious senator. Had a little trouble buying Jessica Alba as an immigration agent who works in stiletto heels, but a minor problem in a violent and dazzling action comedy that delivers the goods. Followed by Machete Kills and Machete Kills in Space.