By Machete follows on from the fake trailer that was in the Grindhouse movie, created by Rodriguez. The films style continues in the same vein as the trailer from 2007. Machete isn’t trying to be a slick modern action movie, it has the feel of a B movie and that is how it was intended. Think old kung fu movies or 70’s action movies, that is how the film style comes across.
The opening scene in the movie sets the tone for the rest, Machete(Danny Trejo) lives up to his name magnificently, blood is spilt everywhere, it didn’t shock me as a viewer but I don’t think that it was supposed to. Throughout the movie you can see that the violence is obviously fake, don’t let that put you off however, that is how it was intended to be and it works well in this style.
The film theme seems to start off on a note of revenge, Machete has been wronged and wants to settle it. Somewhere though, the story line shifts and the film gets an altogether different tone, more political. It centers around the fight Mexican immigrants have to be allowed to stay in America. You could say that Machete shows a real battle with guns and knives that the Mexicans partake
Machete follows on from the fake trailer that was in the Grindhouse movie, created by Rodriguez. The films style continues in the same vein as the trailer from 2007. Machete isn't trying to be a slick modern action movie, it has the feel of a B movie and that is how it was intended. Think old kung fu movies or 70's action movies, that is how the film style comes across.
The opening scene in the movie sets the tone for the rest, Machete(Danny Trejo) lives up to his name magnificently, blood is spilt everywhere, it didn't shock me as a viewer but I don't think that it was supposed to. Throughout the movie you can see that the violence is obviously fake, don't let that put you off however, that is how it was intended to be and it works well in this style.
The film theme seems to start off on a note of revenge, Machete has been wronged and wants to settle it. Somewhere though, the story line shifts and the film gets an altogether different tone, more political. It centers around the fight Mexican immigrants have to be allowed to stay in America. You could say that Machete shows a real battle with guns and knives that the Mexicans partake in to secure sanctuary in America. It is obviously an exaggerated version of the struggle illegal immigrants have to go through every day to keep themselves from being deported. Not with guns and knives but just the struggle of being treated like a 2nd class citizen. The film brings up various points in these issues, whether or not the audience will see them is another question but the main ideology is plain to see, as well as which side the movie takes on this issue.
I was surprised at some of the actors in the Movie, Machete hasn't been overly advertised and I wasn't aware of some of the big names in the cast, there is Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan as well as many other faces you will recognise. I won't go into all of the characters but I thought Steven Seagal was a funny choice for a Mexican drug lord, seeing that he is not very Mexican at all and is usually rolling heads down in China town. He receives only a little screen time though, mostly appearing on video calls with the other bad guys of the film. His main parts are at the start and end of the film, I can't really go into his part at the end of the story as I am in fear of compromising the plot but I felt that it was a little uninspiring and could have been done a bit better.
From the cast, you can see that there are plenty of attractive women in this movie. As you expect, this leads to some provocative scenes. In fact there are few women in the movie that Machete does not have some intimate time with. Most so with April(Lindsay Lohan) who provides some full frontal nudity to secure Machete's B movie credentials.
The plot is a little thin in places, giving way to scenes that feel a little slow. It could have been helped by adding more action and blood shed which is what this movie thrives on and why everyone wants to see it. It does have some seriously cheesy moments though which help me to forget those slower moments, like a priest wielding two shotguns, blowing heads. While yet introducing a political message for the viewers. It's not a masterpiece but it is Danny Trejo kicking ass and taking names and that's what we all want to see.