Film Of The Week: MACHETE KILLS (2013)
SYNOPSIS:
Danny Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent Machete, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man – he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.
I went into Machete Kills pretty much expecting the usual cheesy, over-the-top action as seen in the 2010 flick. Turns out, I got exactly that and a whole lot more!
The film kicks off with Danny Trejo and leading lady Jessica Alba reprising their roles from the first film as Machete and immigration agent Sartana, intercepting an attempted illegal arms deal in the middle of the desert. When a mysterious third party crashes, mission goes awry and Machete is caught and wrongfully accused of muder and sentenced to a hanging at the behest of a Texas Sheriff, only to be rescued by President Rathcock (Charlie Sheen), but with a catch.
To Machete’s reluctance, he accepts the President’s mission to investigate and kill Mendez (Demian Bichir), a criminal underworld syndicate/freedom fighter with multiple personality disorder living in Mexico and threatening to launch a long range nuclear missle to Washington to send a message to the American government. When the mission gets complicated and Machete captures Mendez with the intent of bringing him into custody, he is hunted by all of Mexico, including a lone shapeshifting assassin known only as “The Chameleon”, and a band of prostitute commandos led by their vengeful mistress, Desdemona (Sofia Vergara).
Upon escape, Machete himself is captured by Voz (Mel Gibson), an arms dealer who spares Machete’s life and shares intricate details of his plan for intergalactic inhabitation and world destruction in the hopes of attaining Machete’s employ, to which a “no” answer leaves Machete fighting his way out. And with the fate of the world resting at the countdown of a beating heart, Machete is going to need all the sharp objects, and help he can get to stop a larger-than-life villain from destroying the planet, and then some!
Writer and director Robert Rodriguez doesn’t aim to make a masterpiece by any means. Instead he brings out all the stops to create just the kind of big budget spectacle needed for his latest love letter to the grindhouse era of yesteryear. The film is chock full-o’ one-liners and quips, beautiful women and sexual innuendo, and brimming with blood-splatter comic book-style action and nonsensical cheese and that makes no apologies to anyone.
Machete Kills is just the kind of thriller speaks to decades of genre fanboys of the last forty years, and very much does its share of justice to a franchise that grants filmbuffs a nearly endless array of good guys, bad girls, boundlessly evil villains and an iconic hero that no one saw coming. There’s no need for much of a heavy critical analysis here as this film truly is over-the-top, aiming solely to entertain filmgoers just looking to have fun at the movies no matter what. Love it or hate, Machete Kills!
I really hope part three happens!
Machete Kills stars Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Carlos Estevez, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.
