Machete

Mexican Federale: "You're the boss."
Machete: "No." (pulls out a machete) "This is the boss."

release year: 2010
genre: action
viewing setting: home Bluray 2/15/23 and 8/2/17 and 6/20/15 and home DVD, 12/26/13 and 6/20/12 and 1/4/11, and theater 9/4/10

synopsis: Some crooked policitians and bad guys fuck with the wrong Mexican.

impressions: Outstanding. When we saw this in the theater, my then-wife liked this better than The Expendables, which is saying a lot. The basic idea here is that the bad guys hire and then doublecross a guy who they think is just another Mexican laborer, but he's actually a big-time bad-ass. This movie has gunfights, knife-fights, hand-to-hand (and foot) fights, and features just about every sharp or bladed object or tool you can imagine, all used as weapons. There are a lot of great lines and wisecracks, and plenty of memorable characters.

something this movie has that no other movie has: the ~60' of intestines found in the average adult, used as a rope

acting: Danny Trejo finally, FINALLY gets his due, as he's the violent and lethal title character. Jeff Fahey does a great job as the main evil henchman, and Robert DeNiro is his crooked-politician boss. Michelle Rodriguez is the organizer of an underground network of immigrants and people who help them. Jessica Alba is a cop who gets involved in all this. Cheech Marin is Machete's brother, who's now a priest. Steven Seagal is an evil drug lord. Don Johnson is the leader of a vigilante group that finds and executes illegal immigrants. Tom Savini is a hitman hired by the bad guys. Lindsay Lohan plays the idiotic daughter of Fahey's character, a role that's not much of a stretch with regard to the idiotic part.

final word: Great entertaining violent fun.

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