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Danny Trejo plays “Machete,” a legendary ex-Federale with a deadly attitude, originally created for a fake movie trailer. |
“Machete” is a deliriously daffy tribute to the over-the-top, 1970s grindhouse features flooded with excessive nudity, sex, violence and hilarious tough-guy dialogue.
Its villains include a cruel Mexican drug lord, a corrupt U.S. senator and a militia commander who shoots illegal immigrants for sport – to protect America, of course.
Its un-young hero, Machete, apparently can’t be killed and never needs Viagra.
The women are sexy all of the time, naked some of the time, and when they actually wear something, it tends to be stiletto heels and leather halter tops or else a nun’s habit.
But we’re getting ahead of the story.
Character actor Danny Trejo plays the title character, a dedicated Mexican Federale who, in the opening sequence, disobeys orders to stay put and charges into a drug lord’s den to rescue a kidnapped woman.
Torrez, the “Mexican drug lord,” is played by paunchy former action superstar Steven Seagal. (Oh, that must be why he didn’t have time to star in “The Expendables.”)
After Machete has already sliced through Torrez’s henchmen like a lawn mower through crabgrass (he performs a monumental quality kill by cutting three heads off with a single stroke!), Torrez captures Machete and executes his wife in front of his eyes.
We don’t see all of it, because a really bad and clumsy edit deletes the throat-slashing moment.
This is part of the “Machete” appeal. (Read more…)