Machete

2010 Action/Adventure

Robert Rodriguez brings a new breed of antihero to the big screen in this hyper-violent adaptation of the "fake" trailer originally featured in the 2007 double-feature exploitation throwback Grindhouse. Machete (Danny Trejo) is a former Mexican Federale who plays by his own rules, and doesn't answer to anybody. In the wake of a harrowing encounter with feared drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal), Machete finds himself in Texas, where the shadowy Booth (Jeff Fahey) offers him the opportunity to make some quick cash by assassinating the unscrupulous Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro). When the job goes awry and Machete realizes he's been set up, he turns to fierce taco queen Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), heavily armed holy man Padre (Cheech Marin), and trigger-happy socialite April (Lindsay Lohan) to show Booth that he just messed with the wrong Mexican. But before they can get to Booth, Machete's gang will have to contend with blade-wielding ICE agent Sartana (Jessica Alba), who never met an adversary she couldn't flay. more..

Director: Ethan Maniquis

Starring: Danny Trejo,Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba,Cheech Marin, Michelle Rodriguez

 30 Reviews  2 Awards

Reviews

  • The movie's an unexpected end-of-summer tonic: a trash guilty pleasure with a healthy (if really violent) sense of outrage. It's also Rodriguez's freest movie yet, and possibly his best.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    26 April 2013

  • A gory, pulpy wink of an action thriller, was spun out of a parody trailer Rodriguez directed for the '70s-trash homage "Grindhouse" (2007). The trailer was sublime. As a feature, Machete is more fun than it isn't, but its deadpan mockery of exploitation clichés often slips a bit too close to being the real, schlocky thing.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • Danny Trejo plays the long-haired, craggy-faced titular Machete with a combination of swift ferocity and baleful kindliness. And the ladies love it.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    26 April 2013

  • Forget modulation, nuance or storytelling, this is a movie that hits hard from first to last, no questions asked or logic followed.

    - Movieline

    26 April 2013

  • Machete works because at no time does it ever ask the audience to take any of this too seriously, yet the nudges and winks are never so forceful that it feels like it's begging for your laughter.

    Ian Buckwalter - NPR

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Favorite Movie Actress - Drama/Adventure

    ALMA Awards (2011)

  • Worst Supporting Actress

    Razzie Awards (2011)

Lists

No lists

©2013 Movie Monitor