The Plot

After witnessing the brutal murder of his wife at the hands of sinister drug baron, Torrez (played to perfection by Steven Seagal); former federal agent, Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo), is stripped of everything and left for dead. With no home to return to, Machete retreats to Texas and finds work as a hired assassin.

After being forced to take on a job by a shady lawyer (Jeff Fahey), Machete is double-crossed by his new employer and finds himself tangled in a web with a megalomaniacal businessman (Don Johnson) and a racist government official (none other than the great Robert De Niro).

With the help of sultry Mexican rebel Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), a killer priest (Cheech Marin), and sexy immigration officer Sartana (Jessica Alba), Machete vows revenge on his employer and in the process, inadvertently exposes a conspiracy that leads right back to his arch nemesis, Torrez.

The Thoughts

Many fanboys (and girls) have been anticipating this film ever since Rodriguez announced he would be turning his spoof trailer “Machete” (that was aired during the Tarantino/Rodriguez 2007 gore-fest “Grindhouse”) into a feature-length film. Although Rodriguez is more than capable of pulling off slick looking big budget films like Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Sin City, he has an affinity for low budget, 70’s style movies that brought him to fame (El Mariachi).

Much like Planet Terror, with deliberately poor production value, cut audio and missing scenes, Machete is more reminiscent of a bad 70’s cop flick as opposed to a modern day release, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s anything less than brilliant.
With Machete, Rodriguez has managed to successfully pay respect to the kind of films that inspired him as a director. Despite the grainy film quality, Rodriguez hasn’t skimped at all on the action or special effects – one thing that makes Machete stand apart from the old action movies of the pre-1980’s era.
The explosions are huge, the landscapes are wide, and the violence is bloody. In fact, if you’re a bit squeamish, you might want to keep your eyes closed for most of this film – if you’ve had any previous exposure to a Rodriguez film aimed at adults, you’ll know what I mean.

With regards to casting, I didn’t really have any major problems with the main actors. I think that the role of April Booth played by Lindsay Lohan was a little pointless, but then again, it was such a small role it didn’t count for much. To be fair, she portrays an alcolhic wild child, so I don’t suppose much acting was actually required. A really impressive and bold casting choice for me was that of Robert De Niro as the racist U.S. Senator, John McLaughlin. Lately, De Niro’s acting roles have been somewhat… questionable. But much like his performance in Stardust, he completely hams it up and plays the character wonderfully. It was also great to see Romero’s make-up specialist, Tom Savini, do some acting again.

What made this film so enjoyable for me was the fact that it didn’t take itself seriously. It knows what it is – and that is an homage to action movies that are terrible and cheesy but think they are something more profound. Machete manages to keep its tongue held firmly in its cheek, so when you hear ridiculous lines of dialogue, you simply cannot stop yourself from laughing.

If you found yourself amused by films such as Planet Terror, Deathproof or Desperado, then you will most certainly enjoy Machete. It’s over the top, it’s wild, it’s outrageously unrealistic; but more importantly, it’s great fun: something that a lot films have tended to lose sight of in recent years.

The Film Buzz Official Rating: [Rating: 8.5/10]

UK Release Date:  26th November, 2010

Director: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis

Writers: Robert Rodriguez, Álvaro Rodríguez

Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) is highly skilled in assassination and is hired to assassinate a senator but just as he’s about to take the shot, he realises someone is aiming at him and that he’s been set up. Barely dodging the sniper’s bullet, he’s livid and is not to be messed with. Seeking revenge on former employers, he recruits his reluctant old friend who has now become a priest and taken a vow of nonviolence.

Let the brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss begin, mixed in with plenty of hot girls-kicking-ass action – woopee!

Also starring Robert De Niro and Lindsay Lohan – yep you read that right – Lindsay Lohan is actually in this film – thought that might get you excited? No? Yeah, I thought not.

Machete will be out on general release in USA on 3rd September – no word yet on UK release date.

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: ******½~~~ (6.5/10)

Set in the 22nd Century, on a distant planet named Pandora, home to a race called the Navi. Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation) plays Jake Sully, a paralysed marine, who is given the opportunity to become an ‘Avatar’, and help his fellow humans in searching for valuable minerals on the Navi home world. An ‘Avatar’ is a genetically engineered human-Navi hybrid.

While given a new lease of life as an Avatar, Jake unwittingly embarks on his mission on Pandora and finds himself falling in love with the Navi Neytiri (Zoe Saldana of recent Star Trek fame), he is also soon caught in the conflict between Earth and Pandora.

Avatar sounds like an amazing story and I think fans of the Sci-Fi genre would feel right at home with a tale like this one. But I can’t help feeling like I’m the only person who isn’t excited about this film, due to the sheer amount of Buzz this film is recieving.

Avatar is a concept dreamed up by Titanic writer James Cameron. Supposedly, Cameron had to wait 14 years to have this story finally told but I feel we could have waited another 14 years. However recent weeks have found Avatar shrouded in controversy, with Cameron being accused of plagiarism. Apparently Avatar isn’t so different from Poul Anderson’s short story ‘Call me Joe‘, from 1957.

Call me Joe also focuses on a paraplegic character who has a telepathic connection with an artifical life form on a distant planet, whose habitants are blue cat like creatures,  similarities, yes indeed!

Avatar sounds intriguing, but nothing really surprises me about the look and over all feel of the film, maybe I’m being far too sceptical and how much can you really tell from a trailer?
But the Navi look far too cartoonish for my taste and perhaps slightly unbelievable.

This film has an all star cast joining Worthington and Saldana with Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi.  Avatar hits theatres in December of this year. Here’s hoping I’m wrong and won’t be feeling as cold about Avatar as the trailer left me.

Buzz Anticipation Rating: 7/10

UK Release Date: 18th December 2009

Director: James Cameron

Writer: James Cameron

Links: IMDB, Official Movie Page