“Machete” is a movie filled with near-constant laughs, awkward pacing and the occasional good fight scene.
Machete (Danny Trejo) is an ex-federale. Through a series of unfortunate events, involving drug kingpin Torrez (Steven Segal), he finds himself working as a day laborer in Texas. While looking for work he encounters immigrant lover and taco truck owner Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) who is being observed by Sartana (Jessica Alba), an immigration agent who just wants to enforce the law.
Eventually Machete is employed by Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) and, through Booth, Machete becomes involved in a conspiracy revolving around Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), a wonderfully racist politician, who’s views on immigration take a very conservative slant, supported by the like of vigilante border patrol agent, and sheriff, Lt. Stillman (Don Johnson). This conspiracy leads to lots of people meeting the sharp end of Machete’s machete.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City,” “Spy Kids”) and Ethan Maniquis (“Shorts,” “Planet Terror”) and based on a trailer from the “Grindhouse” films, “Machete” is a tribute to exploitation films at its core. It gets the mood right. The film is filled with one-dimensional villains, violence, politically incorrect dialogue and, of course, plenty of nude women.
The acting is effective. Trejo’s portrayal of Machete works; he manages to always appear intimidating although the delivery of his one-liners occasionally falls flat. Alba and Rodriquez manage to have some of the strongest performances in the film portraying the two most multifaceted characters in the film.
Segal manages to steal every scene he’s in and provides some of the best laughs in the movie by doing nothing but talking. Sadly, De Niro, Fahey and Johnson go to waste for the most part, playing characters that are involved in some of the slowest moving scenes in the film.
However, the slow feeling of the film isn’t restricted to them with several scenes involving Alba and Rodriguez also dragging on for a little too long. Every scene does manage to contain a few good jokes, though not enough to ignore the problems.
Thematically the film is also a mixed bag. Although the storyline begins as a simple revenge story it eventually becomes something of a commentary on illegal immigration.
“Machete” handles the issue of illegal immigration curiously; shifting from over the top action and one-liners to characters reflecting on the harsh realities of immigrant life to cheesy nods to exploitation films of old. This can be seen as a reference to the exploitation movies that inspired “Machete” but like exploitation films before it the lack of focus hurts the film more than it helps as it never fully embraces any one aspect making all of the individual elements fall flat at times. It does, however, take a clear stance, one that supporters of the things going on in Arizona will probably find offensive.
Also affecting the feel of “Machete” is the inconsistent visual aspects. The film opened with a faux-film grain effect and subtitles, reminiscent of older martial arts films, those aesthetics are quickly dropped with the rest of the film being crystal clear and, for the most part, in English.
The camera work and editing sadly take a drop in quality throughout the film with several key action sequences being full of confusing jump cuts and close-ups that bring down what could have been great sequences. This could be seen as another form of tribute to exploitation movies but other scenes are put together much more competently.
The effects work is also inconsistent. The practical effects work well and manage to look over the top yet somewhat realistic.
On the other hand, the seemingly computer generated explosions, gunshots and bloodshed found throughout the movie look cheap and provide a distraction especially in scenes where both practical and computer generated effects occur at the same time.
Overall “Machete” is a film with a perfectly absurd premise whose potential isn’t reached due to some technical and pacing problems caused by a lack of focus. For all its flaws, though, it still manages to be a pretty enjoyable product.