November 8, 2010: Machete
I went back and forth a few times about whether or not I’d bother with this one. I’m really glad I decided to see it.
Director Robert Rodriguez is known for movies which aim only to entertain, often with over-the-top blood-spraying gleefulness and rock-bottom budgets, and Machete totally delivers on that formula. From his roots with El Mariachi (1992) through his period of pop-cultural coolness kick-started in the mid-1990s with his association with Quentin Tarantino, to his modern-day career including such diverse material as the Spy Kids films (2001/2/3) and Sin City (2005), Rodriguez has always given me the impression of someone who has a specific vision and doesn’t mind that it’s not always Hollywood-friendly. I like to see a director follow through on concept projects without being worried about what it might do to his bankability or artistic reputation. Fortunately, Rodriguez starts from an artistic reputation which gives him a lot of freedom. Machete is almost a deliberate return to form, just to make sure he still has it. And he does.
The character of Machete is a Mexican ex-federale, who has escaped to the US after his own police department turned on him for his refusal to become corrupt like everyone else. He’s like a modern-day Frank Serpico. Jessica Alba is a US immigration enforcement agent keeping her eye on him while at the same time asking for his help to deal with the deluge of illegal Mexican immigrants, and Michelle Rodriguez is a reluctant resistance leader trying to help her fellow Mexicans successfully sneak into America. Don Johnson is a Texan border patrol boss who delights in killing illegals sneaking over the border, and Robert de Niro is a Senator who also delights in the sport of killing these poor folks but needs to keep his activities a little more under wraps for obvious reasons. Danny Trejo is Machete, and this craggy character actor is someone you’ve surely seen playing tough bad guys before, but here he almost seems to have a gruff heart of gold even as he’s simultaneously beheading three people with his trademark long knives.
The violence is ridiculous, and the story is simple, but the characters somehow have depth and the whole exercise is tremendously entertaining even though it’s all a bit icky. I could probably even go on to explain the timeless themes explored here, but that would be no fun. I selected Machete as a late-night movie when looking for something which would keep me awake, and that it definitely did. It’s not for everyone, but if you’ve heard about Machete and wondered whether you might like it, then you probably will.
Senseless, mindless, ridiculous, gratuitous, endless violence.
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