Another trip into the exploitation genre, Robert Rodriguez brings the goods with over the top craziness but there are some diminishing returns here and Machete Kills is not quite as awesome as the first.

When things go pear shaped on a routine mission to stop the military from selling weapons to the Cartel, Machete (Danny Trejo) finds himself saved from a sticky situation by US President Rathcock (Charlie Sheen as Carlos Estavez) and put on a mission to stop Mexican revolutionary Mendez (Demien Bichir) from launching a nuclear weapon at the US if they fail to wipe out the Cartel in Mexico. Once Machete gets down there with the help of undercover agent, Miss San Antonio (Amber Heard) he realizes that the conspiracy runs deeper than he thought and an international arms dealer Voz (Mel Gibson) may have more up his sleeve than machine guns. I know those wouldn’t fit up his sleeve but work with me here.

Machete kills is the second of the two planned sequels to the original Machete, which found life as a fake trailer for Grindhouse, the criminally underappreciated schlock double feature that Rodriguez did with Quentin Tarantino, and for the most part it delivers on the same sort of action and fun as the first one did. Unfortunately, one thing that Machete had going for it was surprise. Rodriguez’s movies usually have something over the top going for them but Machete went above and beyond with outrageous action and bizzaro turns of events that were truly unexpected. Machete Kills tries for that same level of shock and surprise but because we know what to expect going in doesn’t quite have the same impact.

Another issue here is that the movie comes from the exploitation tradition of taking a political issue and then using it for trashy action movies. The first film did this with the immigration issue and while Machete Kills touches on some politics here and here there is really no message going on or particular agenda. It seems weird to criticize a movie where a man is dragged into propeller blades by his intestines for not being political enough but without this element the movie loses a bit of its focus and the story isn’t as cohesive. It also isn’t as offensive which is a shame because we are going to miss out on people who take this way too seriously bitching about the political statements.

Now, with that out of the way,  I can get to how much fun I had with this movie and how it almost makes me forget that Mel Gibson is a racist dick bag. Almost. While the sex and nudity is dialed WAY down from the first film, the action and gore are completely intact offering up a multitude of new ways for Machete to kill the hell out of everyone. If you are going to call your movie Machete Kills then you are going to have to up this particular ante and Rodriguez does exactly that.

 

Machete Kills is also absolutely hilarious and, as with the first film, if you are trying to watch this in any serious capacity then you are just flat wrong. The camera work here is kinetic and strange with awesome close ups and zooms that only serve to enhance the overall craziness and comedy on display. It is pretty much impossible to describe the level of silliness of some of the shots that are often funnier than the actual spoken jokes, which are themselves very funny, but these moments make the movie a delight and may be the one area where this movie out does the first. If you are a Robert Rodriguez fan there are also a lot of references to his past films from visuals to props to the fact that this Machete is the same Machete from the Spy Kids movies (which was already more or less an accepted fact). As a huge fan of Rodriguez’s movies I was hoping for even more but I will take what I can get especially when what I get is awesome.

Like the previous film, Machete Kills has a huge cast that does an amazing job. Danny Trejo reprises his role perfectly and does pretty much what he did in the first movie which is be unrepentantly badass without seeming to care one way or another about it (like all true badasses). Charlie Sheen does a lot with his few scenes as Rathcock offering up a President that is maybe a bit more hinged than audiences might expect from Sheen but is still a fairly crazy bastard who doesn’t have too many fucks to give…unless it comes to the ladies and then he has plenty. Demian Bichir, a staple in any movie that requires a Mexican drug lord, gives us an awesome performance as a character with two distinct personalities that can come out at any time. Bichir is a lot of fun and breaks out of his usually heavy roles and shows just how good he is at comedic timing. Sofia Vergara is amazing as murderous Madame Desdemona who hates men and shoots things out of her boobs while leading her brothel of assassins after Machete. Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr, Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas are all wonderful in roles I am not going to spoil. Michelle Rodriguez (no relation) delivers another great performance as returning character Luz and Amber Heard is as funny as she is stunning.

That brings us to Mel Gibson. Prior to his insane drunken outbursts and his taped racists threats to his wife, I really dug Gibson who, despite his growing religious fanaticism, has always been a great actor. Despite his personal troubles,  it has to be said that he does a great job in this one. He is really funny and his performance harkens back to the first Lethal Weapon movie in which he can transition from serious to crazy instantaneously. Not sure how much of that is acting at this point but it is effective for this film. I can’t in good conscience support him but looking at the performance and not the man, his work here is very good.

Conclusion [8.5 out of 10]

Machete Kills is not at all for everyone and I feel sorry for any random film goer that wanders into this by accident but for fans of the genre in general and Rodriguez’s work in particular it is a great time despite not quite living up to the last movie. This movie is an obvious set up for the next one, Machete Kills Again (the remainder of the title is redacted to avoid spoilers) and I suppose the highest praise I can give this is that I can’t wait for the next one.