“Conversation the other day. Me: You know what else comes out this weekend? Machete Kills!! Him: Oh God. That looks so bad. Me: Uh huh! That’s the point! [and then my giddiness turned into shame].
But really, I live for this sorta thing. Gratuitous violence to the point of hilarity! I know I beat to death the thought of how true that is when I did the Tarantino/Rodriguez project last year. I’ve talked about Grindhouse and all of the style and such that it entails. But I can’t stress enough how happy it makes me that it’s continued.
What started as a joke trailer in a joke movie has spawned into its own series. In keeping with tradition, Machete Kills started with a not so joke trailer for the next installment: Machete Kills Again. Besides being ridiculously funny, what I particularly was struck by was how the whole movie that then played out completely set up that next sequel. Out of context, that trailer seemed way too ridiculous, even for Machete. Only to find out that no really, they were going there!
I’m also really enjoying the cast of characters that Rodriguez is building. Besides his usual buddies, Danny Trejo (well that goes without saying), Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Antonio Banderas, Alexa Vega, he’s bringing along a whole new group of friends. Demian Bichir, Vanessa Hudgens, Amber Heard, Mel Gibson, Cuba Gooding Jr, Sofia Vergara, Carlos Estevez (aka Charlie Sheen using his given name) and Lady Gaga in her film debut. Trivia: Apparently Gaga made a comment about being a huge fan of Machete, so Rodriguez offered her a role in the sequel. Frankly, I was a bit bummed her part was so small. It was fitting for a film debut, but I think the lady coulda handled more. And in his tradition of creating roles for Latinos, I do appreciate him adding Bichir and Vergara to his friend list. It’s great watching great actors act badly for fun. Not too many films could get away with something like that.
I spent much of the movie laughing hysterically. Well as hysterically I’ll laugh when I’m alone at a movie. The cheesy lines, the scientifically impossible explosions, the creative “”effects””, all of it perfect. I did feel as though part of it started to drag a bit, almost like there was a genuine (but failed) effort at fleshing out the plot. But the camp element (which was basically everything else) was spot on.
Machete Kills – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n