Pure entertainment

If you can remember back as far as 2007, you may recall the film called “Grindhouse,” an attempt made by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino to make the idea of a double feature film more appealing. You may also recall that there was a fake trailer made to fill the gap between the two separate films. That trailer was “Machete” and what was going to remain as a “fake” preview became so popular that now, in the year 2010, we finally get the full-length feature film.

Danny Trejo has dazzled the screen for years as charismatic, tough antiheroes or villains making him perfect as the star. “Machete” tells the story of an ex-Federale who has vengeance at heart – after an operation goes awry in Mexico, a ruthless drug lord murders his family and leaves him to die. Being the hard man that he is, Machete Cortez (Trejo) survives and escapes to Texas, carrying out odd jobs as an illegal immigrant for much-needed cash. It’s here that he gets an enticing offer from business man Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey); $150,000 cash for the assassination of a racist US Senator (Robert de Niro) who is up for re-election. But Machete finds himself betrayed yet again and he ends up running from the law, from the people who hired him in the first place and also from Immigrations Officer Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba).

Losing his family early on in the film, Machete is given the predictable “nothing to lose” kind of characteristic that drives him to do unimaginable things to complete his mission. Apart from the fact that he is a skilled and often brutal killer who can use a range of weapons for the purpose of spilling his enemy’s blood, not much is told about this man. This is a good thing in fact, since Trejo would not have been able to portray anything more sophisticated than that. His moody, dark expression that is effortlessly sustained throughout is all the film requires of him and he nails it.

Even after the terrific opening sequence, director Robert Rodriguez never gives up trying to impress the audience with his endlessly imaginative action set-pieces. Yes, a lot of them are bonkers, but that is exactly what made “Sin City” so great. It has the exact same effect here. The biggest highlight most definitely involves Machete pulling out a guy’s intestine for the purpose of using it as rope. Completely nuts and implausible, but watching how calmly and casually Trejo carries this out is pure entertainment. And it’s not just Trejo who gets to slice people up: Alba lands a feisty role that she suits surprisingly well and watching her fend off someone twice her size with her high-heel shoes is again ridiculous, but fun.

Moving at a rapid pace balancing hectic action and a plot that unexpectedly deals with racism, immigration and politics, Rodriguez relies on a killer soundtrack to comfortably move events along. It’s a set of compositions that certainly evoke the feeling of all the humble and trashy 70s blood-gore-sex romps. The gritty, down-to-earth atmosphere the music creates ties in nicely with Rodriguez’s visual style: something he clearly has an eye for. The confident choppy editing only further emphasises the film’s rough and energetic tone.

Rodriguez knows how to make proper use of his range of outstanding cameo stars. Steven Seagal, whose films have not seen the inside of a cinema for a while, makes a welcome return as the trash-talking, brutal antagonist. Don Johnson is spot-on as the power-hungry border-patrolling vigilante who acts as the film’s main antagonist. Lindsay Lohan has a small part, but the drug-addicted, attention-seeking teen she portrays shares striking similarities with the actress’ personal life – so no room for error there. De Niro seems to have most fun as the fascist Senator who has moments of humourous monologues in what must be the actor’s simplest and easiest role to date.

Nothing can be easier to watch than “Machete.” It’s the perfect grown-up, Friday night-out film that breezes through its absurdly entertaining action scenes with memorable performances and a somewhat thought-provoking plot. The underlying serious subject matter is deliberately left untouched in places because let’s be honest, who gives a damn about politics when you have arms, legs and heads flying all over the place?