Review of Machete Kills (2013) by Mark A — 11 Mar 2014

Simply put, this might be the finest motion picture of the 21st Century, to date.

A coming of age meditation by turns sensitive, delicate, and demur, MACHETE KILLS is rated "R" for "replete with subtle nuances" evoking the whimsical pastel visions of James Ivory, Bernardo Bertolucci, Wes Anderson and Eric Rohmer, while providing a showcase for such Latin-American cinema icons as Mel Gibson and Elon Musk (inventor of the Tesla). One suspects the only people who can resist this movie's lures are very likely anti-Mexican bigots...

Nah, just kidding, bro'.

More to the point, MACHETE KILLS is rated "R" for "relleno"--'cuz it's stuffed to bursting with gloriously unhinged exuberance. A relentlessly rollicking mad marvel, most freakin' amazeballs so to speak. Plot? There's oodles of it, nearly all irrelevant. This tongue-in-cheek, kaleidoscope mix of mayhem, sex, slaughter, sci-fi, satire, shenanigans and spy spoof establishes Danny Trejo's Machete Cortez as a direct descendant of such '60s anti-James-Bond anti-heroes as James Coburn's Derek Flint (OUR MAN FLINT) and Dean Martin's Matt Helm (MURDERERS' ROW), albeit in an adventure amped-up and cracked-out with habanero-hot dialogue and gallons of gore. As a gonzo action-film director, Robert Rodriguez stands alone with only Yoshihiro Nishimura providing even distant competition.

One can but wonder where the series might go from MACHETE KILLS-oh, wait...that's right: Rodriguez begins the movie with a trailer for his next installment! So there's hope that soon Machete will kill again...In Space!