From time time we make exceptions, we break our rules and we don't go by the book. Today's entry is an exception a 2010 film in an exploitation classics blog? you gotta be kidding but, no I'm not.
It just so happens that Mr. Robert Rodríguez, a well known and quite succesful film maker happens to love exploitation movies as much as his buddy Quentin Tarantino does, so, while they both released their Planet Terror & Death Proof respectively they decided they could go along with the idea of adding fake movie trailers to make their Grindhouse movies experience complete. The interest of Rodriguez was to make a full feature film about his fake trailer of "Machete" and, yeah today's review is about this ultimate exploitation tribute.
Machete, former cop, lifetime avenger.
Michelle Rodriguez a great actress playing her part.
Machete makes exceptions from time to time and gives his blades collection a rest.
So the movie basically is about the immigration problems many mexicans face when going for the American dream. There's two sides of the story. On the one side we find the ilegal immigrants, legal immigrants and the ICE(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) who happen to be looking for legal measures to help immigrants make their way through America, and to help those ilegals become legals. on the other side of the story we have this redneck politician who happens to have this election campaign promise to rid America of every god damned immigrant to preserve America for the Americans and avoid mass infection from the evil that comes along with every single foreigner. I would say that this is the more serious plot presented on the film.
We have a second plot, which is more like the main plot of the film, where Machete is a former Mexican cop who once tried to stop some major druglords on a rescue mission that happened to double crossed him and fucked him up so well that he had no wife and kids left alive.
Politicians & Druglords, pure science fiction isn't it?
Revenge.
This bitch costed Machete's cop plate.
This is probably one of Rodriguez best films to date, side by side with comicbook masterpiece Sin City (2005). Machete delivers on all accounts of action, gore, nudity, and corny lines. The thing that sets this apart from other exploitation films is that the one of the most lacking things original exploitation films had, which was acting, here on this updated rendition, acting is top notch. I personally found that the three main female roles to be quite well delivered. Jessica Alba plays the part of an ICE agent struggling with her loyalty to her nation and her people. She slowly begins to question her own logic on if people should go by the book all the time. We see this struggle immediately, when she approaches a taco stand (boy I love Tacos) to buy a coffee and lunch, despite her own people feeling from her site. Why does she continue this ritual? She says it is to check the papers of the character Luz, but really it is to try and hold onto a sliver of identity among her people.
My kind of agent.
Michelle Rodriguez plays Luz (aka She) as an underground leader of illegal immigration. The character of Luz is a simple woman who believes in not bending to the broken system, but fighting for her people (the mirror image of Alba's character). "She" is only a myth on which Luz has built a cult following, understanding that sometimes being a myth can do more damage than flesh and blood. By the end of the film, Luz is reborn as the mythical She, just in time for the bloody battle.
Not your average Taco cook.
They call her one eye?
Finally, Lindsay Lohan despite only receiving 10-15 minutes of screen time (most are which she is undressed), she plays her character perfectly and flawlessly. Machete is an exploitation film at its finest. And, for the most part, if you are the type of cinema attendee who wants to see exploitation, I tell you you're in for a special treat that won't let you down. don't believe me? check the hottest screen caps.
Ah, nudity!
Mother & Daughter.
Hero.
Boobs.
More boobs.
Lindsay Lohan's talent.
Mother & Daughter again.
Now, the following trailer was the one that came along with the release of Grindhouse in 2007:
After that trailer Rodriguez set his mind into turning it into a real movie and delivered us this new trailer:
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