Eye Candy #446 - "Machete"

Machete:  I’d love to tell you this was a rational, well-reasoned treatise on the state of immigrant affairs, but I’d be lying through my teeth.  This is a big loud action/black comedy from Robert Rodriguez, expounding on a fake “Grindhouse“ trailer from several years back, though Danny Trejo has played variations of the same sort of character in many of Rodriguez’ films to date.  Machete (Trejo) is a Mexican federale who, while trying to right wrongs, is betrayed and his family destroyed by Torrez (Steven Seagal in his first theatrical release in years).  Years later, he is on the US side of the border in Austin, Texas, and finds himself the pawn of several gringo powerbrokers (played by Jeff Fahey, Robert DeNiro, and Don Johnson), set up for a politically-motivated shooting by a Minutemen-like militia.  But he’s not alone - a young ICE agent (played by Jessica Alba) and a local immigrant underground, headed by “She” (Michelle Hernandez) don’t stand idly by.  So Machete goes on the warpath to extract some vengeance and justice for illegals everywhere.  Cheech Marin and Lindsay Lohan are here in support.  Gory, funny, with ridiculous violence delivered with a wink and a nudge and more than a little nudity (for those that ever wanted to see Lohan‘s breasts, your ship has come in; even Alba gets a little almost nakey), the film is extravagantly silly fun.  Not high art, not by a long shot, but another stylish, audacious flick from Rodriguez.  He may have some wild ideas, but you can’t say that he doesn’t commit fully to them, which includes a finale that pushes the limits of credulity. And any movie that uses “(Hey Baby) Que Paso?” in the first several minutes can’t be all bad.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”