Little did they know, what doesn’t kill him only makes him kill you at a later date. That’s what catches the eye of Booth (Jeff Fahey), who has a proposition. Machete shoots anti-illegal immigration Texas State Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) in exchange for $150,000 or Machete gets killed by Booth’s nameless sidekick (Shea Whigham). As it turns out, it’s another set-up, this time to get the Senator re-elected by faking an assassination attempt. Machete’s the patsy, but Machete has friends. Friends with weapons, like Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) and her underground network of illegal-aiding do-gooders. In the words, or rather the text message of Machete: they fucked with the wrong Mexican. The heavy lifting, in terms of speaking, belongs to Jeff Fahey’s Booth, who is deliciously evil and amoral. Generally, everyone in the movie seems to be cast very well, from Lindsay Lohan as Booth’s drugged-out daughter to Don Johnson’s backwoods redneck law enforcement officer. This is undoubtedly a labor of love for Robert Rodriguez, who co-directed (with longtime editor Ethan Maniquis) and co-wrote the script (with Alvaro Rodriguez). Machete is his political world view, his Mexican action hero, and very much his take on exploitation films, and the care he took to craft every gore shot, every set piece, and every transition is obvious, and it’s one of the reason why the film works so very well at what it’s trying to be. Machete is not a film for everyone. That much is sure from the opening credits, before which the movie has already racked up a serious body count and seen some heinously wonderful violence. However, when enjoyed via the mirror of a classic 70s blaxploitation movie (think Mexploitation) or a classic cheesy 80s action movie (think maximum body count), Machete is a treat for all ages, provided those ages appreciate splattering blood, hilarious use of entrails, pointlessly topless or naked women, and of course, general badassery. Machete is a movie with a political statement at its heart. While it’s fairly overt in its desire for open borders between the United States and Mexico, that message is, fortunately, delivered in an over-the-top, almost goofy comic book style that should make it either palatable or easily ignored for those who enjoy genre films. Then again, perhaps I’m a bit jaded, as I’ve seen more blaxploitation movies than the average white filmgoer who isn’t Quentin Tarantino, and I’ve seen every ‘whitey is bad’ message that can be delivered in 35mm format. Machete is much more fun than it is message. It’s an action movie, and it’s glorious. Completely over the top, impossible to examine closely, and spectacularly entertaining. US correspondent Ron Hogan will never take Mexican lunch trucks for granted again, despite being white. Those delicious tacos cross all racial barriers. Find more by Ron at his blog, Subtle Bluntness, and daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.
title: “Machete Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-08-09” author: “Angela Ballesteros”
A bit player for years (he scored his first role, a tiny part in 1985’s Runaway Train, while working as a drug counsellor for a member of the film’s cast), Machete at last places Trejo centre stage. In the casting stakes, Machete ranks not far behind The Expendables as this year’s starriest action film, with Trejo backed up by Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan as gun-toting warrior women on both sides of the law, and Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson and, most remarkably, Robert De Niro among the colossal roster of antagonists. At the film’s opening, it’s explained that Trejo is a Mexican Federale who once “took out the trash” for both the CIA and the FBI. But like Schwarzenegger in his 80s prime, the part Trejo plays is largely irrelevant, and the title gives you all the information required – Trejo’s name is Machete, because that’s his favourite weapon. And within seconds, Machete’s using his machete on heads, arms and legs, and blood flows in abundant torrents. The first hour of the film intricately sets up sufficient motives for Machete to exact his revenge on every last one of the film’s villains – with some reasons more plausible than others – which he eventually does, in spectacular fashion. Chekhov’s famous principle about guns applies here. When you see a corkscrew lying idly around on a worktop in one scene, you just know it’s going to end up stuck in someone’s eye in the next. All this decadent bloodshed could border on the unpleasant were it not for Rodriguez’s wicked sense of humour, and like his Planet Terror feature in Grindhouse, Machete is far too knowingly goofy to cause offence. As Jessica Alba’s tough law enforcer Rivera puts it, “Exploding houses? Falling bodies? You’re a walking shit magnet!” The film makes a few wry comments about the cruel hypocrisy with which migrant workers are treated, but these are constantly drowned out by Machete’s daft script and bloody spectacle. This is a film to enjoy with friends, and is to be viewed as trashy popcorn cinema. It’s the action movie equivalent of a firework display. Michelle Rodriguez is as sultry as ever, doubling as a burrito seller and secret underground community worker, and later transforming herself into a machine gun-wielding angel of vengeance. Cheech Marin shows up in a chortle-inducing role as Machete’s priest brother, whose chapel boasts a cluster of closed-circuit televisions in the shape of a cross and a huge arsenal of guns. Then there’s Robert De Niro, whose apparent habit of accepting roles without first reading the script has, for once, worked in his favour. He’s great value as a despicable, racist senator with a lust for power, even if it is hard to believe that this really is the same chap who played Travis Bickle all those years ago. Given the entertainment value in Machete’s action scenes, and the unavoidable charisma of Trejo himself, it’s a pity that Rodriguez allows his movie to peter out towards the end. Running perhaps a quarter of an hour too long, Machete concludes with a pantomime-like mass fight scene that lacks the messy creativity of its opening, and Trejo’s concluding face-off with one particular big-name villain is oddly lacking in tension. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.
