Machete Kills- review

Check your brain at the door- Robert Rodriguez has another film staring Danny Trejo as Machete.  While not a great film, Machete was a decent nod to the 70’s exploitation film and grindhouse cinema.  It was also bogged down in masses of pointless cameos and loads of bad dialogue and acting.  Whether intentional or not it was distracting sometimes but at other times. This movie does much of the same as the previous film, but plays with a new cast of people who spend a great deal of time winking at the camera instead of playing it straight.

Machete, played Danny Trejo, is hired by the President of the United States to hunt down a mad man in Mexico with a nuclear weapon aimed at Washington D.C.  Machete must deal with hordes of enemies, cartels, as well as a shape-shifting assassin known as El Camaleon.  The mad man has attached the bomb to his heart and Machete must keep him alive for as long as possible. Soon he finds that weapons dealing is part of a conspiracy involving a space faring businessman.

Most of the action is pretty solid and fun to watch, however it doesn’t really make a lot of sense for the character of Machete to be doing super spy stuff in the vein of a Moonraker rip-off.   It would be like seeing Dirty Harry shooting at Gremlins; the tone is a bit off.  Some of the people seemed shoe horned into the movie even though they are funny at times.  Mel Gibson, Sophia Vergara, Charlie Sheen and Vanessa Hudgens have a few funny lines but don’t seem to be taking anything serious which was the charm of the Grindhouse movies. 

The character of El Camaleon was fascinating.  Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga, and Antonio Banderas play this fascinating character and frankly the more I see the more I want to see. I enjoyed it they development of that character a lot with each new face it showed.  Danny Trejo still brings a decent performance and Michelle Rodriguez falls into tough girl persona as easily as putting on slippers.   The film is entertaining but in a very silly and stupid way.  So if you are able to let go of your grip on reality, it is a fun little ride.

If you enjoyed the first movie I would still recommend waiting to see this one on video.  It is not the greatest movie and not really worth seeing in the theater.  If you were into the fake grindhouse movies beyond the films in Grindhouse I’d recommend Hobo with a Shotgun over this movie.  This one is ridiculous but in some cases that might be your cup of tea.  In which case, drink up.