Machete

I am generally opposed to overly bloody and violent films, but I make a few exceptions.  I will watch anything by Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez.  I enjoyed their Grindhouse films, but the best thing about them was the fake trailer for Machete which consisted of Danny Trejo kicking ass.  I was excited when they made a film for the trailer but I rarely go through the hassle of seeing films in the theater anymore.  Finally saw it this weekend on Amazon.

Machete is a former federale whose family was murdered by a drug lord.  Now he's an illegal immigrant who is hired to kill a state senator who is running on an anti-illegal platform.  Things go downhill from there.

Rodriguez co-directed this film with a man who had previously worked as a film editor.  It really shows in the way the film is constructed.  Yes there is tons of blood and guts, but it is all shot so beautifully .  It's gore for art, not just shock value.  And they didn't overly edit.  So many action films today are virtually unwatchable with the fast cuts and fancy camera angles.  I watched Kingdom of Heaven this afternoon and blanked out on the fight scenes since there was too much going on.  Okay, a real battle is I'm sure chaotic and confusing, but I'm watching movie not a real battle. Give me more than a few frames to see what is happening (good article on this bad technique at Salon).

Machete frequently goes over the top which is great since it is supposed to be a glorified B movie.  There's a lot of good funny bits in it as well.  The biggest surprise was the good acting performances.  Robert DeNiro wasn't chewing scenery or acting stupid (he's not my favorite actor, but I find it sad the way he's pissed away greatness on crappy films--The studio system is dead so he doesn't have to pick crap projects).  Jessica Alba wasn't annoying.  Don Johnson and Steven Segal were good.

The ending of the film promises two sequels to come.  Since Rodriguez makes good films cheap, they might happen.  If they do, I'm definitely going to see them on the big screen.