Film Review: ‘Machete Kills’ So Over the Top, it Has No Bottom

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – You gotta love director Robert Rodriguez. When other filmmakers are slogging through their important films, he’s out convincing big stars to blow off cinematic fireworks, giggling all the time. The excess is the thing, more so and more so, in his new film “Machete Kills.”

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

Another great notion about the character of Machete, portrayed with stoic abandon by Danny Trejo, is that he began as a character in a fake trailer (“Grindhouse” from 2007) and then became his own film series. After the feature debut “Machete” in 2010, director Robert Rodriguez revisits the Mexican marauder in “Machete Kills” and brings along some celebrity heroes and villains – including Charlie Sheen (listed as Carlos Estevez) as the President. This is a shoot-em-up, blow-em-up, sex-em-up carnival of a thrill kill cult movie. The pay offs overshadow the dead spots and the redundancy of the bullets flying, and provides enough grindhouse touches and bizarre laughs to entertain.

Machete (Danny Trejo), the Mexican lawman turned renegade, is recruited by the President (Charlie Sheen) to go into Mexico and stop cartel operator Mendez (Demián Bichir) from shooting a nuclear missile at Washington, D.C. The bipolar Mendez has strapped the timer to his beating heart, so Machete must take him out alive across the walled Mexican/American border.

There are several factors working against this – including a bounty placed on Machete’s head worth a million bucks. This gets Madame Desdemona (Sonia Vergara) and her brothel agents involved, and the notorious disguise artist El Chamaleón (portrayed by Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas). As time ticks away on the nuclear device, Machete discovers that the madman behind it all is the notorious Luther Voz (Mel Gibson).

“Machete Kills” opens everywhere on October 11th. Featuring Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Lady Gaga, Cuba Gooding Jr., Amber Heard, Demián Birchir and Sonia Vergara. Screenplay by Kyle Ward from a story by Robert Rodriguez and Marcel Rodriguez. Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Rated “R”

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of ”Machete Kills”

Danny Trejo, Demian Birchir
Machete (Danny Trejo) Escorts Mendez (Demian Birchir) in ‘Machete Kills’
Photo credit: Open Road Films (II)

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of ”Machete Kills”

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