MACHETE KILLS – The Review

Review by Dana Jung

With his Charles Bronsonesque stone face, steely glare, and intimidating screen presence, Danny Trejo has carved out a Hollywood career with over 250 film and TV credits.  After decades of playing bikers, hit men, and other assorted heavies, Trejo has finally made it—thanks in part to friend and director Robert Rodriguez—as an action star.  Introduced as a secondary character in Rodriguez’ SPY KIDS films, Trejo’s Machete starred in his own trailer in the Tarantino/Rodriguez ode to ‘70s exploitation GRINDHOUSE before headlining his own full-length film in 2010.  Now Machete has returned in MACHETE KILLS to once again bring order out of chaos or vice versa as the mood strikes him, and the result is a cinematic blast—easily Rodriguez’ best film outing since GRINDHOUSE.

While the earlier MACHETE film suffered from perhaps taking itself too seriously and tried too hard to emulate an exploitation vibe, it nevertheless attracted some heavyweight talent—Robert DeNiro, Jessica Alba, and Lindsay Lohan to name a few.  This time around, Rodriguez left the screenplay chores to Kyle Ward, and the result is superior to the first installment in every way.  Gone are the family dramatics and  political satire that left long stretches of the first film without Machete, sometimes bringing an already plot-heavy story to a slow crawl.  It becomes clear from the first frame that the intent of MACHETE KILLS is F-U-N, and the movie is overflowing with in-jokes, audacious action sequences, and outrageous characters.   Rodriguez has once again collected an incredibly talented cast to populate his throwback to the raw action films of yesteryear.  Amber Heard, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Alexa Vega, Charlie Sheen, Walton Goggins (of TVs JUSTIFIED), and even Lady Gaga all give great performances; even those playing minor characters are given enough screen time to make the parts memorable with just the right amount of over-the-top bravura.  And the women—particularly Heard, Vergara, and Rodriguez—are all sexy playing strong empowered women without having to resort to exploitive stereotypes.  But the real acting aces here are Demian Bichir (currently on TVs THE BRIDGE) and Mel  Gibson.  These two wonderfully seasoned performers give the film just the right amount of gravitas in portraying two substantially different villains.  Both actors excel at shading their characters with areas of gray, so even within the confines of the crazy plot they manage to keep us laughing while being repulsed at their actions.

Ward’s script keeps things moving briskly with a more-focused plot, piling on one incredible set piece after another.  Machete finds new uses for a variety of bladed weapons, and also discovers a novel use for helicopters.  The body count may be high, but you just have to love any film that references both STAR WARS and STAR TREK, plus Mexican wrestling heroes and James Bond, almost all within the same scene.  There are plenty of surprise character cameos to go along with the one-liners and homages, but you won’t find any spoilers here.  Because such a gleefully giddy movie like MACHETE KILLS needs to be experienced fresh, like a good robust salsa.  And after you’ve seen it, be sure and tell all your friends to see it so they can witness your love of moviemaking from a bygone era, an era of hot gun-toting women, severed limbs, and four-letter words.  Because remember:  “Machete don’t text.”

4 of 5 Stars