Film Review: Machete (2010).

Machete (2010)
Starring: Danny Trejo; Robert De Niro; Jessica Alba; Steven Seagal; Michelle Rodriguez; Jeff Fahey; Cheech Marin; Don Johnson; Shea Whigham; Lindsay Lohan.
Directed by: Ethan Maniquis & Robert Rodriguez.
Colour/105 Minutes/R

Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo), is a former Mexican Federale and all-around badass. Three years previous to when the main story takes place, drug lord Rogelio Torrez (Steven Seagal) kills his wife and daughter, and leaves Machete for dead. However, he survived, and now he finds himself making do as an illegal day labourer in Texas. A shady businessman named Booth (Jeff Fahey) hires him to kill anti-immigrant Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), but really it's a double cross. McLaughlin is slipping in the polls, and a botched assassination attempt by an illegal immigrant is what Booth feels will be a perfect way to get the Senator re-elected. With McLaughlin re-elected, the borders will be walled-up and better controlled, and Booth can continue to run his secret drug smuggling operations he has with Torrez. So Machete is shot and finds himself on the run from Booth's hired killers and a pesky US Immigration agent (Jessica Alba). Along the way he hooks up with his brother: a pot-smoking, gun-slinging Padre, played by Cheech Marin. He also finds himself being protected by the Mexican underground, later becoming a figurehead for a coming conflict with a group of Minutemen-style border vigilantes, with connections to McLaughlin, led by the evil Von Jackson (Don Johnson).









Ever since the fake trailer for Machete was seen as part of the Grindhouse double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, fans drooled at the possibility of it, along with the other fake trailers (like Eli Roth's Thankgiving) becoming actual feature length films (the Canadian, fan-made grindhouse trailer, Hobo With a Shotgun, eventually went on to become a 2011 feature length release starring Rutger Hauer). Robert Rodriguez has wanted to make the film in some form since the early 1990s, going so far to write some if not all of the screenplay back then, and to cast bit parts for Trejo in several of his films, as a version of the title character. Danny Trejo is one of the most well recognized character actor/bit players in films today, and probably the most well known Latino example after Luis Guzmán. His lined face and well-muscled, tattoo-covered body, mustache, and tough-guy attitude, along with a solid talent for acting has gained him parts in everything from top of the line blockbusters to low budget, direct to video trash.









Finally he gets his own film, and he does not let the fans down. More importantly he manages to carry a sometimes jumbled mess of a film with a gritty, minimalist, and often funny performance. There's just a lot of good feelings generated being a cult film fan and seeing Trejo violently hack and slash his way through the bad guys, charming the ladies, and generally making the best out of being in his own starring vehicle. Michelle Rodriguez, as the head of the Mexican underground, and the already mentioned Cheech Marin, provide good supporting roles. Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro and Don Johnson each provide good, different degrees of scenery-chewing villainy. Fahey especially steals every scene he's in, no matter if he's shooting people or trying to hold his family life together (Lindsay Lohan plays his slutty, party girl daughter, making a bit of fun of her real life image). Steven Seagal is never going to be accused of being a great actor, but his first-ever turn as a full-on baddie works quite well, and De Niro plays his campy corrupt senator note-perfect. Don Johnson's redneck heavy is easy to loath. Even Tom Savini has a fun, small role, as a pro hit man. Perhaps the only real weak lead here is Alba, who is an ineffectual push-over and just doesn't seem to fit her role at all...and what the hell is with her semi-nudity being CGIed in here? Crazy, man. Oh well, she stopped being hot after Idle Hands anyway.

The strength of the Machete trailer was obvious: it featured all of the best parts of the (then) fake film. These scenes, including some of the featured actors, were later put in the finished film. This left Rodriguez with the hefty task of filming all the filler and coming up with some stuff to either top or equal the previously existing footage. Sometimes he manages quite well. There's lots of blood, babes and bad-ass lines to be found. It sort of has that anything goes grindhouse feel to it. Sadly, it also does have something typical of a lot of the '70s exploitation this film borrows from: scenes of heavy-handed exposition and lulls between the action, where the plot becomes far too complicated for its own good. The very topical immigration issue is shoe-horned in here, and it becomes annoying, even though it's obvious that Rodriguez is poking fun at both sides of the issue. Still, seeing Machete leading fleet of illegals in comically bumping low riders doesn't feel right at all for this film. This leads to a finale that is mostly taken up by buffoonish stereotypes killing each other, and is not saved until Machete and Torrez have their final duel (which should have been the real focus of the film, had they really wanted to stay true to this film's cinematic roots).

It's a bit of a let down considering how perfect the first half of this film is in its tone, but that being said, it wasn't a deal-breaker for me. It just feels like this sort of finale would be a perfect fit for a lesser third entry in an exploitation series (Shaft in Africa, anyone?). And yeah, there are already two sequels planned for this, which makes me question where they can go now that Machete has led the revolution to victory? Flawed, but overall quite fun, Machete is a good rental, and worth owning if you are into Rodriguez, Trejo and exploitation awesomeness. Hey, I like all three of those things.