As many people know, I was no fan of The Expendables, but this movie is everything Sly's wasn't. Fun, fast, brutal, with no dead weight.
One of the most impressive things here is that Rodriguez and his co-conspirators were able to take a 2 minute trailer that's nothing but money shots and construct it into a) a movie that makes coherent sense, b) is about something more than homage/imitation, and c) that can sustain itself for pretty much the entire runtime (it loses a touch of steam near the end but it re-invigorates itself with a third act that's truly admirable in its gonzo ridiculousness).
Trejo is just fucking great in it. Never the slightest wink or nod at the audience. Full-force badassery.
Michelle Rodriguez is at her most attractive in this one, IMO. I also liked that she lightened up on the hard-ass attitude just a little. She's much more appealing when she has a nice side.
There was a time when I forgot about Jessica Alba, but she's very funny here, and she gets along with Trejo so well. I have a hard time picturing many actresses reading the script and thinking "this is the next thing I've got to do" but I like her sensibilities.
Lot of controversy over De Niro's performance. As I told Rene, it's not that he's great on the level of his great performances, but he's game. He's willing to go with the movie's flow. He showed up to have a ball rather than sour the party, and I admired that. I was also impressed at how much of there is of him in the movie; I kind of expected him to be there for five minutes and duck out, but he's around.
Seagal is more in the movie in the amount I expected De Niro to be in it. He appears mostly via "webcam" aka greenscreen, with a terrible Mexican accent. If you expect him to fight, lower your expectations massively, but there's still quality stuff here.
Lots of good references to Grindhouse as well, including a returning character or two (beyond the Crazy Babysitter Twins), but my favorite references were to two other movies. The first is a visual that I felt was an obvious nod to Escape From New York, and a part where Robert De Niro drives a taxi. I feel like I was the only one who noticed, but maybe everyone "got" it and I'm just fooling myself.
As for what it's about, Machete spreads the treatment of illegal immigrants all over itself without once becoming preachy. It comes close at one point (when one white guy speaks up to his three buddies), but defuses it with a great joke. And again, that gonzo finale...if anyone has any doubts this is firmly tongue-in-cheek, sees the last scene, and still believes Rodriguez is really suggesting Mexico start a machete war against the United States or some shit, well, they are Glenn Beck.
All in all, I think I had at least twice as much fun at this than I did at Planet Terror, and I really enjoyed Planet Terror. This feels less forced, less purposeful; it's a riff in all the places where PT was a meticulous construction. Great fun and I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did, with an equally loud and enthusiastic crowd.
One of the most impressive things here is that Rodriguez and his co-conspirators were able to take a 2 minute trailer that's nothing but money shots and construct it into a) a movie that makes coherent sense, b) is about something more than homage/imitation, and c) that can sustain itself for pretty much the entire runtime (it loses a touch of steam near the end but it re-invigorates itself with a third act that's truly admirable in its gonzo ridiculousness).
Trejo is just fucking great in it. Never the slightest wink or nod at the audience. Full-force badassery.
Michelle Rodriguez is at her most attractive in this one, IMO. I also liked that she lightened up on the hard-ass attitude just a little. She's much more appealing when she has a nice side.
There was a time when I forgot about Jessica Alba, but she's very funny here, and she gets along with Trejo so well. I have a hard time picturing many actresses reading the script and thinking "this is the next thing I've got to do" but I like her sensibilities.
Lot of controversy over De Niro's performance. As I told Rene, it's not that he's great on the level of his great performances, but he's game. He's willing to go with the movie's flow. He showed up to have a ball rather than sour the party, and I admired that. I was also impressed at how much of there is of him in the movie; I kind of expected him to be there for five minutes and duck out, but he's around.
Seagal is more in the movie in the amount I expected De Niro to be in it. He appears mostly via "webcam" aka greenscreen, with a terrible Mexican accent. If you expect him to fight, lower your expectations massively, but there's still quality stuff here.
Lots of good references to Grindhouse as well, including a returning character or two (beyond the Crazy Babysitter Twins), but my favorite references were to two other movies. The first is a visual that I felt was an obvious nod to Escape From New York, and a part where Robert De Niro drives a taxi. I feel like I was the only one who noticed, but maybe everyone "got" it and I'm just fooling myself.
As for what it's about, Machete spreads the treatment of illegal immigrants all over itself without once becoming preachy. It comes close at one point (when one white guy speaks up to his three buddies), but defuses it with a great joke. And again, that gonzo finale...if anyone has any doubts this is firmly tongue-in-cheek, sees the last scene, and still believes Rodriguez is really suggesting Mexico start a machete war against the United States or some shit, well, they are Glenn Beck.
All in all, I think I had at least twice as much fun at this than I did at Planet Terror, and I really enjoyed Planet Terror. This feels less forced, less purposeful; it's a riff in all the places where PT was a meticulous construction. Great fun and I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did, with an equally loud and enthusiastic crowd.
