Hollywood stars line up to be part of any Robert Rodriguez film, and let’s face it, the Machete franchise is no different. If anything, more stars want to join in on the fun of a Machete film. Machete Kills is everything it promises it will be: violent, bloody, funny, and of course star-studded.
The film starts off with a fight between Danny Trejo’s Machete and a group of military men gone bad, who are then attacked by more unknown assailants. The violence and gore one would expect in a Robert Rodriguez film is present from this moment on. Some of the more clever ways to kill a human being in other action films are easily overshadowed by the methods in this one; helicopters and boat motors have been used before, sure, but not like this.
This time, it’s the U.S. Government asking Machete for help. To be more specific, it’s the president played by Charlie Sheen (credited as Carlos Estevez) who calls in the hero. There’s a madman with a missile aimed at Washington D.C. and only Machete can stop him. So they send him to Mexico with the promise of a clean slate. All Machete has to do is take out this villain.
Once a few things go wrong and there’s a 10 million dollar price is put on Machete’s head, all kinds of hitmen and villains try to chase him down for the cash. One such monster is just known as The Chameleon, a character who has the ability to change his or her face. This really gave some of the stars a chance to take part in the film, considering some of the people who play the character include Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas.
Another great addition was Sofia Vergara, who plays the mother of one of Machete’s cohorts who dies. The machinegun-bra-clad leader of a group of hooker-mercenaries follows him throughout the film, and has some of the funnier weapons in the movie (including one that looked a lot like the crotch gun from the film From Dusk Till Dawn).
And, of course, the film includes extremely sexy women, as the Machete franchise promises. Amber Heard (one of my favorites) plays Machete’s handler as she lives the double (or triple) life of a spy and beauty pageant contestant. If she and Vergara aren’t enough, the film also sees the return of Michelle Rodriguez’s character Luz, along with the dental assistants/assassins from the first film.
Sheen is hilarious as the foul-mouthed and playboy president, and Mel Gibson switches sides for the first time ever and plays the villain of the film, a man who claims to see the future and has plans to move to a space station he has built.
Overall, the film was a fun watch if you liked the first one, and since I enjoyed the first one, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Machete Kills is out on Blu Ray and DVD January 21st.
Final Score: 3 out of 5
http://youtu.be/-sjnoJE30LM
