Machete (2010)
Certified: 18
Duration: 105 minutes
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Jaff Fahey, Robert De Niro, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan
KRS release

Machete is a descent into B-movie 1970s madness. Frequent Quentin Tarantino partner in crime, Robert Rodriguez here has made a picture which is cool, all attitude and very much a throwback to a different kind of moviemaking.

When Mr Tarantino and Mr Rodriguez made their double feature Grindhouse in 2007, they had also prepped the film with fake trailers. One such trailer was that of the Danny Trejo film Machete. Another of the fake trailers will also soon be released with the title Hobo With A Shotgun, starring Rutger Hauer.

Machete is slightly cartoonish and straightforward in its dialogue as it is made in a style of the 1970s action movies that were made at a-dime-a-dozen rate. However, in Mr Trejo the film has a hero who is damn ugly – no Tom Cruise – and he looks to be as mean as his trailer makes him out to be and more.

Mr Trejo is Machete, a Mexican Federal Agent who is now reduced to being a day labourer. This is the result of payback given to him by drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal). So his family ends up in paying the price.

In Texas he is seen by Booth (Jeff Fahey) who wants him to assassinate Texas State Senator McLaughlin (Robert DeNiro) who is running for re-election. Coasting on the support of Von (Don Johnson) and his anti-immigration militia who are taking the law into their own hands, McLaughlin is spreading the word against illegal immigration with a vehemence. It turns out that the assassination is just a set up, one that will make McLaughlin look like a martyr and with Machete being the shooter; the Mexicans will be made to look even more of a threat.

Help is provided in the form of Lux (Michelle Rodriguez) who works in a taco stand but is secretly the head of the Network, an organisation aimed at facilitating the entry of illegal immigrants into US and incorporating them into US society.

Sartana (Jessica Alba), a former immigrant and now an agent with Immigration and Customs, is out to stop Lux as she believes that Lux is the legendary “She”. Sartana ends up allying herself to Machete’s cause as does also Padre (Cheech Marin), Machete’s brother who is a shotgun-toting priest.

Booth and his cronies are to settle things with Machete. In the middle of it all this there is also April (Lindsay Lohan), Booth’s daughter, who adds more complications to the mix.

Mr Rodriguez has made a very masculine film, full of action, stunts, in-your-face attitude and cool, packed with beautiful gun-toting babes. Underneath all this Mr Rodriguez is also delivering a not-so-subtle message about immigration which is almost like a slap in the face. However, all those who go to see this exploitation picture are there not for the message but for all the shenanigans.

In Mr Trejo – who has already collaborated with Mr Rodriguez in Once Upon A Time In Mexico and Spy Kids – Machete has the perfect leading man. In that face of his, which seems to have been at the sorry end of a thousand and one barroom brawls, Machete sparkles to life. He is the perfect killer and fighter but also, strangely enough, the perfect ladies’ man.

Cheech Marin is fun in his bit part while Jeff Fahey is quite a sleaze. Robert De Niro is fun in a role and he seems to be more satirical in his approach while Steven Seagal makes for a one-dimensional villain which is fitting for the genre.

Meanwhile, Jessica Alba is great eye candy. Mr Rodriguez trumps her up in the acting stakes as she is more intense and sports quite a few nasty outfits. Likewise, Lindsay Lohan seems to be having a whale of a time as the role she brings to the film seems to be some sort of hazy alternate version of real life.

Intentional humour lines most of the supposedly serious dialogue. The action is brutal and no holds barred which makes it quite refreshing. The only thing missing from this film is frequent Mr Rodriguez’s collaborator Salma Hayek.

Now how about that Grindhouse trailer for Werewolf Women of the SS? Now that is a film I would love to see. Yes, Machete has had me re-hooked on exploitation.