Machete is an over the top violent action movie with tongue-in-cheek humorous nods to the grindhouse exploitation films of the 70s.
Movies that gave movie goers what they wanted – sex, violence, crime, drugs, action, stunts, guns and explosions. Plots ripped out of dime store novels, comic books and muscle-bound, armed to the teeth heros.
Texas director Robert Anthony Rodriguez (Spy Kids) is no stranger to the low budget, high octaine film style of the Grindhouse genre. He break out film the 1992 action movie El Mariachi, which starred a then less known Antonio Banderas and introduced Salma Hayek to international audienceswas a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million ($5.5 million in 2023 dollars) against a budget of $7,000 ($14,937 in 2023 dollars).
Whereas in the Grindhouse double feature, Quentin Tarantino entry “Death Proof” gets bogged down with long Tarantino trademark dialog, the Rodriguez half “Planet Terror” is a non-stop action flick with plenty of over the top violence, gross out practical effects and plenty of humor.
Grindhouse was an attempt at capturing the overall experience of spending and entire lazy afternoon at the movies. Paying one admission price and watching what ever the projectionist threw up on the screen.
The Grindhouse “experience” follows through on the DVD versions and contains all of the atmospheric elements missing in today’s movie theater experiences – grainy uneven film reels, missing reels, intermission, trailers, and an audience reaction track.
One of the fake trailer included in the Grindhouse movie release was for a crazy, over the top, Mexican-explotation film starring, scary looking guy with a heart of gold, donut seller, real life tough guy and former prisoner turned activist Danny Trejo.
And then in Machete the movie came to being in 2010. Machete is truely made in the grindhouse tradition but tones down the “experience” level. In the opening of the film we get the “scratchy film” treatment as we learn the backstory of the Machete character.
As a Federale police officer, Machete was the one honest cop not willing to look the other way and his partner, wife and daughter all pay the prize but not before Machete’s weapon of choice takes a few heads.
After the title sequence we are in more modern times and the scratchy film effect goes away. Machete is working as a lowly day worker after being brought into the country by the shadowy “Network” of Mexican immigrants.
The all star cast features Robert DeNiro as a corrupt Texas Senator seeking election and Steven Segal playing a Mexican drug lords. Which is a nod to the whitewashing/yellow face/black face practices in the past by Hollywood. Like when David Carradine was cast as the lead in the Kung Fu series.
Segal has Russia and Serbian heritage and here he is cast as a Mexican. To further make the point, his girlfriend is played by an Asian actress.
The movie also features a very hot looking Michelle Rodriguez and a naked Mother/Daughter scene with Lindsay Lohan And Jessica Alba.
Also in the “give the audience what they want” aspect of Grindhouse films, Mayra Leal appears naked for seven minutes in the film as an unnamed kidnapping “victim” in the opening who turns out to be a decoy to kill Machete.
As shown above, Machete’s weapon of choice is a long machete which he uses in novel ways, not only to quickly decapitate his enemies but to stab them through doorways and such.
In fact, there are many scenes where Machete could pick up a gun but he prefers a stabbing weapon. In one over top scene he escapes from a hospital by deboweling a baddie with a bone saw and then using the guys entrails as a rope to swing out the window.
Machete is full of this type of creative violent humor. So outrageous you have to laugh. He kills another bad guy with a meat thermometer to the neck. Then when the house blows up the guy lands on the roof of a police car. The camera zooms in on the thermometer and it explodes from the heat of the overcooked turkey.
For a over the top action and violence, the movie has a lot of social commentary and actually predicts where we are today in America. The politician running for office fakes an assisnation attempt and milks it for votes.
Don Johnson (“Introducting Don Johnson” says the opening credits – ha ha!) plays a Texas ranger who gets his jollies off by hunting down illegal migrants crossing the border.
Jeff Fahey (Lost) also plays a pivotal role as the senator’s right hand man along with Cheech Marin as Machete’s priest brother and Shea Whigham as the enforcer for the senator’s team.
There was a follow up film called “Machete Kills” which did not get good reviews. Rumors are that there might be a third film called “Machete Kills Again…In Space” but so far it is still just vaporware.