Review of Machete (1958) by Dion D — 18 Jan 2016

Settling into my theatre chair during the spring of 2007, I eagerly awaited the start of the Rodriguez / Tarantino "Grindhouse" double-feature. I can recall the lights going down, some cheesy retro music playing, and a "Coming Attractions" announcement leading into a hilarious fake trailer for a movie called "Machete.

" Well, we didn't have to wait long for the trailer to expand into an actual full-length feature. I was anxious to see the result -- admittedly, that is how I feel anytime the names of Rodriguez or Tarantino are attached to a movie.

Now for my impressions of this blood-and-guts exploitation parody romp. This movie evidences yet again why there can be too much of a good thing. The three-minute trailer was excellent, but it is quite a bit more challenging to develop that into a full-length story of like quality, even for an accomplished director.

There were expectedly ridiculous moments that made me laugh out loud, but the laughs were not elicited as often as I anticipated, and this is one loooong movie; in fact, the movie probably could have benefited from being cut by about 20 minutes.

The positives mainly stem from the casting choices. Michelle Rodriguez's role had the potential to become the movie's most interesting character, but unfortunately she was not featured enough.

Seagal and Lohan are good enough sports to allow Rodriguez to poke fun at their reputations. Jeff Fahey and Cheech Marin align their performances perfectly with their director's vision, essentially stealing every scene they appear in, as they have in the past when working with Rodriguez.

Mostly, though, I felt like I had already seen the best clips, dating back to the first time I saw the mock trailer. In fact, it is unmistakable that Rodriguez used the exact footage from that trailer in this movie, editing those shots into, and between, longer scenes.

Much of the remaining movie mimicked moments found in other Rodriguez films, such as "Desperado" and "Planet Terror," which is fine -- those are far better movies than "Machete" -- if but a tad lazy for a writer / director who in the past has proven his imagination does not shrink away so easily.

I remain a Rodriguez fan and I enjoy the light-hearted approach he brings to his wildly action-oriented extravaganzas, populated with a disparate cast of actors and actresses. "Desperado," "From Dusk Till Dawn," and "Planet Terror" are movies I have re-watched several times and still I find them to be highly entertaining.

Having seen "Machete" only once, I am left with a feeling that my initial viewing is enough.