One of the funniest elements to come out of the Grindhouse
double feature a few years back--other than director Robert Rodriguez’s
hysterical Planet Terror--was Machete, a made-up trailer for a Mexican-style
action movie that featured bad-ass actor Danny Trejo as a bad-ass Mexican Federale
named Machete who’s out for blood, because, as the trailer’s tag-line intoned,
"They @#&% with the wrong Mexican!" I guess this was just too good an idea for
Rodriguez to leave alone, because now he gives us a full-length movie featuring
Machete opening a can of whoop ass on all those who dare to cross his path.
Rodriguez, who co-directs with Ethan Maniquis here, uses the same silly tone
that he did with Planet Terror. In short, you’re watching a satire of the super
macho Mexican action film genre, among other things.
This works very well at first, and, in spots, Machete is just as funny as the
original trailer (the directors even wisely recreate and expand upon certain
scenes from the trailer). And the eccentric cast--which has everybody from Robert
DeNiro, Steven Segal, Jessica Alba, Michele Rodriguez and even Lindsey Lohan--all
hamming it up in overdrive, is certainly eye-catching and fun to watch. But
despite the over the top humor and situations, the movie eventually feels like
it’s running a bit long. Apparently, Machete was a very funny one-joke bit, as
long as it was a trailer. Once expanded to feature length size, it starts to
wear thin, and even becomes a little grating, much like an annoying party guest
who doesn’t know when to take his leave.
Despite the presence of a talented cast, they’re all playing cardboard characters. And Rodriguez’s one-note story isn’t much of an incentive to draw the viewer into the film. And this works against the filmmakers, who try to make some valid points about the hot-button issue of illegal immigration, only to have their message get drowned out by the cartoonish quality of the story. But things just get so over the top--especially by the wild-eyed, no-holds barred climax--that instead of finding it funny, I was impatient for this dopey flick to just be over, already. How silly is it? In one scene, Machete swings down to a window one floor below him by using the intestines of a bad guy as a rope. The silliness worked much better for Rodriguez in Planet Terror, and perhaps Machete should have remained a very funny mock-trailer. --SF
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