Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

zhorzh-06796 Literally the worst movie (if not by quality than the most irritating) I've ever seen. Cheap thrills, sexuality and violence are exaggerated without story or motif backup. I'm aware that this is the grindhouse movie, but it's totally pointless.

destinylives52 From the "fake" trailer that was in the "Grindhouse" double feature movie, "Machete" is the fully realized version, starring the incomparable Danny Trejo as an ex-Federale who winds up as a day laborer in the U.S. Picked by a man to assassinate a Donald Trump type politician (played by Robert De Niro), Trejo takes the job and before he can fire a shot, he is double crossed and set up to take the fall for De Niro's attempted assassination. Wounded and on the run from the police and De Niro's henchmen, Trejo is helped by an underground network of Mexican immigrants to get his revenge on those who wronged him.My most memorable, movie moment of "Machete" is the scene when Trejo goes to the house of De Niro's main henchman. Holding garden tools, Trejo tells the bodyguards that he is the new gardener. The bodyguards let Trejo pass; and one of the bodyguards says something like "You ever notice how we let a Mexican inside our homes just because he's carrying garden tools?" It's the funniest line in the movie."Machete" is a hyper-violent, often silly, fast paced, action/comedy that revels in its absurdity and glorifies the 1970s cheesy action/revenge flicks. Obviously not meant to be taken seriously, this movie is best viewed with friends as you munch on unhealthy snacks and drink unhealthy beverages. As a bonus to viewers, "Machete" has a surprisingly complicated plot for a movie that focuses on outrageous, bloody violence.Mannysmemorablemoviemoments

fcabanski As a grindhouse movie it's a 10. The acting is overall terrific - Alba is only pretty bad, which is very good for her. The action is terrific. The story is terrific - it's crazy, it twists all around the place, that's terrific.But the Hollyweirdos who made it couldn't help but throw in glorifying illegals and demonizing people who want a secure border in America. The political message is misplaced. But Hollyweirdos can't help themselves."Don't take it seriously, it's exploitation...except people who are anti immigrant are racist." Yes, I purposely used "immigrant" instead of "illegal". People in Hollyweird can't demonize those who want a secure border without lying. So the constant message is about people who are against immigrants rather than the truth - people are against illegals breaking into the country.The political message is a -10, so it pulls the movie down to a 0. 1 is the lowest rating. It's a 1.

Screen_Blitz Following his success with the double-feature 'Grindhouse' with collaboration with his longtime friend Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez makes a fabulous return to the action genre with this Grindhouse-style actioner. Packing abundance of graphic, over-the-top violence and gore, and retro-style cinematography; this action piece pays homages to classic B-movies from the 70s and 80s but with a more polished execution than what we experienced in 'Planet Terror', the zombie horror half of Grindhouse. Taking the lead is charismatic action star Danny Trejo as the titular character Machete who is back again at taking on the bad guys, following his previous appearance in the fake trailer in Planet Terror, along with his more prolific appearance as the uncle of the lead characters in the more kid-friendly 'Spy Kids' franchise. This film follows the title character as masterfully skilled federal who is disgracefully betrayed by Michael Booth (played by Jeff Fahey), the man who hired him to assassinate Texas Senator John McLaughlin (played by Robert De Niro) who plans on ridding the state of Mexicans from crossing the border. Following his attempt on the assassination, Machete is gunned down by a sniper who happens to be an accomplice Booth and his boss Torrez (played by Steven Seagal). With the assistance of his Catholic brother Padre (played by Cheech Marin) and sexy immigration officer Sartana (played by Jessica Alba), Machete sets out for revenge.With Danny Trejo in the lead role and Robert Rodriguez in the director's chair, there is only so much you can expect from this off-the-walls action flick. In that case, those who go in awaiting sense of realism and grit are probably going to be disappointed as Robert Rodriguez embraces an over-the-top approach reminiscent to old exploitation movies from 70s and 80s. This means exaggerated violence and Tarantino-style blood splatter, one scene in particular involves Machete tearing out a man's intestines and using theme to swing through a window. But in the midst of the carnage however, is a surprisingly clever political undertone which deals illegal immigration of Mexican natives through the U.S/Mexico border and Robert De Niro as the racist Senator trying to eliminate the so-called dilemma, citing Mexicans as terrorists and drug lords. This is where Michelle Rodriguez, playing a taco stand operator, comes in place as her character runs a network smuggling Mexicans through the border. While the political themes fit suitably for the plot, the way in which they are executed doesn't always work. But that's not the real deal here. The performances by the cast aren't too bad, nothing too great either. Danny Trejo in particular shines fresh as the action hero here, especially during the action sequences; Steven Seagal on the other hand is just your average one-dimensional villain with nothing really interesting in the character department. Robert De Niro, for the highly acclaimed actor he is, isn't given anything much interesting to work with here aside from the anti-Mexican politician he portrays. In the end, there is still plenty of fun and excitement to endure, mostly notably in the action scenes including the climax at the end which prove that though Robert Rodriguez may not have the best taste in writing, he allows viewers to experience tension with over exaggerated action set pieces. Even better, he also makes fair use of the vintage-style cinematography rather than executing it in a way that distracts viewers from the atmosphere like what we experienced in Planet Terror.Machete is a stylish action thriller that is startlingly entertaining and charismatic, despite the over-the-top nature it pervades. Of course, the anti-Mexican themes and absurd amount of graphic violence do happen to stray this film from making it a solid choice of everyone, action fans or not. In the end, Robert Rodriguez puts this action piece to good use in the midst of it's notable flaws.