Robert Rodriguez has lived the filmmaker’s dream. He shot “El Mariachi” using office chairs as Steadicams and rarely took a second take during production due to limits on film stock – and still came out with a top-notch film. Now, he is such a trusted filmmaker that he was able to turn a fake trailer into a feature length film – Machete
Machete stars Danny Trejo, a longtime companion of Rodriguez who has appeared in many of his other films. This, however, is Trejo’s first lead role in any feature film; it only made sense that his leading debut would be in a Rodriguez film.
The main character, Machete, is a man of honor who is driven by vengeance. A Mexican federal agent, Machete was betrayed by his own men at the feet of the vicious and over-dramatic drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal), who brutally murdered Machete’s wife.
Move forward a few years, and Machete finds himself at the center of a conspiracy involving a greedy Texan politician, Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) who has made illegal immigration the foundation of his re-election campaign. Not only does he support an electrified fence on the border, he calls immigrants “parasites” and promotes all-out war between the immigrants and the law.
Shé (Michelle Rodriguez), a “leader in revolt” type of person, disguised as a taco seller, smuggles weapons in a movement to fight border vigilantes. But the climactic face-off between gardeners, workers and day laborers – in their section of painted low-rider cars, and redneck vigilantes – turns into a funny but brutal bloodbath.
The rest of the film takes place within high-octane adrenaline rush situations that keeps you thinking, “Did that just happen?” Rodriguez combines witty one-liners and timely political commentary with a “B-movie” style of filmmaking. The result is inconsistent, but entertaining.
“Why is Machete a B-movie?” First off, the film was based off of a fake trailer that ran in the collaboration projects that Rodriguez did with fellow writer and director Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction) back in April of 2007. Also, when a movie is not released from a major studio or, in this case, created from a concept that was not ever supposed to be a movie in the first place, it will almost invariably turn out to be a B-movie.
Despite its mediocre status, Rodriguez does a fantastic job bringing such an all-star cast together and making them work together like they are brothers and sisters.
After seeing the mind-bending film Inception this summer only to move to this less intelligent action flick leaves the mind thoroughly disappointed. But, if you see this film, try and keep your clever guesses of the end to yourself. As a matter of fact, turn your brain off completely – you will enjoy the film a lot more. That I can personally guarantee.
