Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills

An obvious improvement over its virtually unwatchable predecessor, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills follows the title character (Danny Trejo) as he sets out to stop a Mexican revolutionary (Demian Bichir’s Mendez) and a megalomaniacal arms dealer (Mel Gibson’s Voz) from launching a deadly missile. Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has wisely taken the Machete series into an unabashedly outlandish direction with this (almost) passable entry, as Kyle Ward’s screenplay is chock-a-block with elements and plot developments of an appreciatively larger-than-life variety – with the best (and most entertaining) example of this the relentless assassin that continually changes his/her appearance. (It doesn’t hurt that said assassin is played by, among others, Cuba Gooding Jr., Walt Goggins, and Lady Gaga.) And although Trejo simply does not possess the presence or charisma required of a movie star, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills, in its early stages, benefits from an appealing road-trip narrative and the over-the-top efforts of an eclectic supporting cast (which includes Amber Heard and Charlie Sheen). There reaches a very specific point, however, at which the movie begins to palpably run out of steam, as Rodriguez, having abandoned the road-trip storyline, places the focus entirely on Machete’s dealings with Gibson’s character – with this shift marked by a stretch of talky exposition that, while intriguing at first, ultimately feels kind of endless. The broadly conceived climax is, as a result, drained of its impact and energy, and it’s not surprising to note that the film’s momentum is, in its final half hour, pretty much non-existent – which does, in the end, cement Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills‘ place as a disappointingly overstuffed actioner (ie like the original, there’s just too much going on here).

** out of ****