Machete - Chicano Grindhouse | Trash Cinema Club

Oct

2

Machete - Chicano Grindhouse

≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Exploitation, Highly Recommended, Satire, United States |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: United States
Genre: Action/ Satire/ Exploitation
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Year: 2010

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE

One of my favorite moments in the fanboy extravaganza Grindhouse was the faux trailer for Machete. When I found out that Robert Rodriguez was actually going to make a feature based on the trailer, I was stoked.

But like a fool, I allowed myself to be discouraged by lousy reviews from mainstream critics and I didn’t see Machete in the theaters.

Duh. Of course mainstream critics like Roger Ebert didn’t get Machete. They evaluate movies by mainstream criteria.

Obviously, Machete is a jape, a homage to the grindhouse movies of yesterday, but shot through the prism of Robert Rodriguez’ concerns about immigration reform. If you don’t have an appreciation for grindhouse, you’ll never get all the jokes.

For example, old grindhouse movies frequently starred actors who were perceived as either “over the hill” or “lousy.” Machete’s got Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal, Jessica Alba, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, and Lindsay Lohan. Now, that’s a glorious trash cinema cast. There’s also got to be gratuitous violence and nudity. So, when we get a scene of Machete making out with two topless women shoehorned into the narrative, it’s a punchline.

The plot hardly matters, except that it has to make a modicum of sense, enough to hang all the action on, anyway.

Oh, all right. Machete (that ultimate badass Danny Trejo, finally in a starring role) is hired by Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate Senator John McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), a right wing politician who wants to put up an electrified fence to keep Mexicans out of Texas. But actually, Machete’s being set up. After that, it’s payback time.

But that’s all boilerplate, anyway.

What’s important are the details. Like when Machete whips up a rag tag army of illegals to confront border control vigilantes, they ride to battle in souped up lowriders, bouncing up and down. In one hilarious shot, a muscle car bounces so high it crushes one of the vigilantes on the way down.

For me, Machete comes damned close to being a classic. The only thing in the way is the lack of heedless energy Rodriguez displayed in his half of Grindhouse, Planet Terror. Too often, the narrative slows down enough that you have time to think.

For me, a flick like Machete works best when the hits keep on coming so fast, all you can do is be carried along on a wave of pop exuberance.

But still, Machete is a blast. I laughed like hell all the way through.

That leaves the question. Who wouldn’t like Machete? Well, people who don’t like 70s trash cinema for starters. Then there’s people who don’t appreciate politics in trashy movies, or whose politics aren’t progressive. Obviously, Machete is on the side of immigration reform, as in amnesty. Then there’s folks who can’t stomach gratuitous violence.

Heck, I guess the audience for Machete is pretty narrow after all, but I loved it, for what it’s worth. Your call.