MACHETE (2010) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis
Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba,
Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin,
Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal
In "Machete", character actor Danny Trejo gets what has to be the role of his career: an ex-cop-turned-day-laborer-turned-revolutionary-commando-turned-folk-hero, and an absolute fucking nightmare for all those patriots who believe the best way to protect our sacred border is with guns, plenty of ammo and a mile-high fence. Trejo's Machete doesn't talk much, and with an aura of invincibility and a face like a map of every bad road in Mexico, he doesn't have to. About all he has to do is stand there, the lethal, implacable eye in a storm of head-lopping, limb-severing, gut-spilling action-movie effects. Which is not to understate his skill as an actor. It's just that Trejo knows - and director Robert Rodriguez knows - that in this case, less is more. Much more. Robert De Niro camps it up as a redneck state senator, and Don Johnson plays a right-wing militia leader with jaunty malice, but the standout in the supporting cast is Michelle Rodriguez as a taco-truck vendor and rebel organizer code-named "She". When "She" shows up late in the film in form-fitting battle gear, with a patch over one eye and an automatic in each hand, the goon squad she's up against would do well to get out of her way.
