The trailer for Machete first appeared in 2007’s Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s double-feature homage to the B-movie and exploitation cinema. Which is exactly the type of cinema you get from the full-length Machete. And I doubt that if Robert Rodriguez had 7 billion dollars to toy with for the feature, he would have done anything differently. He'd still use the same 1970s yellow block letter titles he's got saved on his computer as "Mexploitation Typeface." He'd still have naked chicks and non-actors and family members in the cast. He’d still put more energy into pyrotechnics and the coolest way to chop someone’s head off than worrying about any type of message the film could deliver. And this is exactly what the fans of the trailer were begging for. But this time, something sat funny with me, because even in the constraints of the exploitation genre, I thought there was potential for this film to be more.
The movie opens with Machete (Danny Trejo) and his Mexican Federale partner getting ready to bust drug kingpin Torrez (Steven Seagal), a weird and hilarious casting choice. After some dramatically delivered telenovela dialogue, a mess of bloody violence and some hot Chicana nudity, Machete is injured and most everyone else is dead, including his wife and child. Machete was set up. Naturally, he wants revenge.
Three years later, Machete is working as a day laborer in Texas. He is offered $150,000 by sleazeball Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), during a particularly enigmatic anti-illegal immigration speech. But before he can pull off the hit, Machete is hit by a sniper’s bullet. A sniper also hired by Booth. He narrowly escapes but the local news has shown an illegal immigrant shooting at the senator, which only helps the campaign.
Now Machete is on the run from Booth, the police, and Torrez (who was in with Booth on the setup). Machete seeks help from Padre (Cheech Marin) a Catholic priest who breaks his vow of silence by delivering Machete taped confessions of Booth’s involvement in the assassination attempt. Also on Machete’s side is Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), taco-truck owner and mastermind behind “The Network,” an underground contingent of illegal immigrants Luz has helped to cross the border and secure employment in the United States.
In the middle is immigration enforcement agent Sartana (Jessica Alba), busting illegals in 4 inch heels. Sartana’s character has an awakening when she realizes Machete has been set up and is all of a sudden offering him papers and standing on cars giving inspirational speeches to illegals. Her characters turn-around seems somewhat quick, but when you’ve got caricatures like Senator McLaughlin, a conservative politician so high on his soap box he shoots pregnant border-crossers in his off time, it’s not hard to change sides.
After much chopping and buzzing (Machete is also skilled with weed whackers and garden sheers) and adventures, like making out with Booth’s daughter, April (Lindsey Lohan, yes, she’s naked) and her mother (yes, it’s awkward), the movie culminates in an all-out war between Machete’s crew and the politicians and their vigilante border control cronies. As Luz’s network gets the word to fight, cell phones go off in every kitchen, construction site, car shop, hospital and hotel.
This is where I thought the movie might take a stance on the importance of ethical immigration reform. I wanted it too. I mean, what would this country do without the illegal workforce running so much of its businesses? But there’s really no time to address this of course, because there’s still more cars to blow up.
The underlying subject matter is especially timely in the wake of Arizona’s newly passed immigration laws. But in the end, this is an exploitation movie about a guy named Machete who fucks people up. I’m glad I saw Machete winning a street fight while eating a burrito and it was cool to see him swing through a hospital window using human intestines. I’m glad I saw so many cool explosions and more than one character coming back from the pseudo-dead. Machete is enjoyable for these moments and many more. Just don’t look for too much underneath.
