***SPOILERS***

I’ve been waiting for Machete to hit theaters for a long time. When SB1070 had been signed into law, I remember the film trailer being a hit and reaching various communities of practice within days. One of the reasons the trailer became so popular is because there is a social commentary woven into one of the first Latino superhero films. Check out the trailer below:

In a small room filled of mostly men, I was one of maybe three people whose gender expression and identity I read as women. It’s not often we see character actors of Color gain leading roles. We did see Samuel L. Jackson emerge from such a space, but it is a rarity. One of the many reasons I’ve wanted to see Machete was because of lead Danny Trejo. If you don’t know who Danny Trejo is I really don’t know what to tell you about yourself. He’s been in as many films as James Edward Olmos but rarely gets the recognition, which he seems all right with. I’ve noticed that many character actors feel this way and are happy to be able to get work on a regular basis. Trejo does play the same character in many of his roles, but that’s why I love him: he don’t play. He plays himself and I believe he can murder someone with his bare knuckles even if he is tied to a chair.

Robert and Àlvaro Rodriguez knew what they were doing when they chose Trejo for the lead role. I can easily see them creating this character just for Trjeo. If you are looking for some comparisons to Robert Rodriguez’s first film El Mariachi, there are some, but he’s evolved a bit more since then, and this could be good or it could be terrible. Some of the details are very El Mariachi, but larger parts of the narrative are more From Dusk Till Dawn. Rodriguez partners with co-director Ethan Maniquis again, who he collaborated with on Grindhouse and Planet Terror.

Trejo plays lead Machete, a complicated character who has many different spaces he occupies. Moved by a desire to see the “common man” be treated fairly and respectfully, he also has a support for the law, if it is created to protect communities. We meet Machete first in Mexico as law enforcement when he chooses not to wait for back up and ends up being set up. His character is as federal and deep into law enforcement as one can get, yet he’s now an outcast looking for work in the US under a pseudonym. To the surprise of no one, his weapon of choice is a machete, but he also appreciates knives, martial arts, and guns in general. He ends up in the US, banished from Mexico we are to believe, at a spot that is popular for migrant workers to be picked up for day work and that is where he meets She.

My girlfriend favorite Latina actor, the one reason I watched Lost for a minute, Michelle Rodriguez plays She, a guerrilla who embodies stereotypical characteristics assigned to Latinas: nurturing yet violent and sexual. We first meet She at the taco truck she runs that provides food and conversation for migrant workers. This is one of the many ways she provides safety and nurtures the community of men she works among. She manages the covert operation of The Network, a group of immigrants who have gained access into the US, have obtained education and professional development and who provide support and assistance when needed to others in The Network. She also assists Machete in his healing process when he needs somewhere to rest and recover. Part of her healing powers apparently can be found between her legs. I’ll admit this did not bother me as I know all too well the healing powers of the vulva!

She also shoots her gun as I would, wearing some tight black pants and a bra. I mean really, why waste all the gun residue just on your fingers? Who cares about scarring and being burnt from explosions?! It’s a fantastic story and I was not offended by the oversexualized imagery. What I was offended by: I didn’t get to see the people I wanted to see naked, but saw a bunch of other ones I could have gone without seeing naked. Also, the ending pissed me off, which I’m not sharing but just know this seems to be a trilogy!

Jessica Alba in what may be her first (and only?) Latina role in a film as an ICE agent who finds her idea of the system working is a farce and joins forces with the “workers.” As Sartana, Alba has been getting a lot of media attention for this role, especially among Latino media. I don’t choose to focus so much on her, because, well her character was so predictable for me. She’s the one character that you see in many films about superheroes. The one who has the most to learn, the one who has the most resistance to consciousness-raising attempts until their lives are threatened, the one that is the loneliest and therefore has the most to gain by conveniently finding “community.” I found her character to be a bit comical in addition to obnoxious in the beginning. I easily dismissed her character, and yes I do recognize that may have something to do with my projecting my opinion that Alba is insignificant general onto her character Sartana. At the end of the day I think Alba was really playing herself, or who she thinks she is: the meritocracy supporting, law-abiding, starting-from-the-bottom-up, sharp, femme agent who thinks her social justice agenda makes a difference in the lives of people she is so removed from in reality.

One character that I had to really roll my eyes at, but it was an affectionate roll, was Steven Seagal. Seagal plays a Mexican drug lord, Torrez, yes you read that right. Segal plays a Latino. Now I’ll admit that for a moment I had to ask myself: is this too much magical realism to make me suspend my belief that Segal can be a Latino? The answer was I kind of forgot about him because he wasn’t on screen very much, but when he was he always started his lines with “cabrón.” His role was not as big as one would have expected, but it was much more than what Schwarzenegger and Willis had in The Expendables (yeah, I went to see that film too, and I wore a dress with ruffles!). Torrez lasts the entire film (which was a little over 2 hours when I saw a screening) and he may not be coming back in the next films, then again, he could.

Don Johnson and Robert De Niro both have large roles in the film. Johnson plays Lieutenant Stillman, what some may consider a vigilante similar to the Minutemen. He corrals local White men, provides them with guns, and they go into their land at night to “protect” the border and the land of Stillman’s forefathers. De Niro plays Senator McLaughlin, a conservative Senator who is seeking to “secure” the border, which for him means adding electricity and other deadly elements to the barriers surrounding all borders between the US and Mexico. He is good friends with Stillman and the first time we see McLaughlin and Stillman they are videotaping themselves murdering undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the border. McLaughlin believes his supports will “love seeing” the film.

The one thing I did love about McLaughlin was that he employed my Cat Daddy Jeff Fahey who plays his aide Booth. Now Booth is just as dirty and trifling as McLaughlin but his plans are to work with Torrez to make sure the border is secured under their control. This plan requires them to find an undocumented person to set up so that there is a false sense of terror among voters. What ends up happening is they hire Machete and he basically throws a wrench in their plan. Machete’s history with Torrez further complicates the situation when Torrez realizes what Booth has done in hiring him.

The part of this film that has a connection to social justice and lived reality is the survival of immigrants from all ethnic backgrounds (which is a big part of why The Network actually works) from vigilantes who have convinced themselves they can murder whomever they want and that the law protects. We watch as Sartana tries to make it big at her job by uncovering She and her operation, which she doesn’t realize works the way it does. The Network has goals to help people successfully cross the border and enter the US and become contributed and documented members of society. They realize this may mean an armed struggle and they are all on call and ready. The final scene is the showdown among Stillman’s vigilantes and She and Machete’s crew from The Network.

Among members of The Network were two young men who I read as the “typical homies from around the way.” They were always in the mix, helping and keeping watch with and for She, and basically the lookouts as needed. One of them had no lines but was present and an important part of documenting the struggle. He was a sketch artist and looked a LOT like those homies figurines that (were?) so popular to collect. He was always present with his pen/pencil and pad. I appreciated this aspect of the film as it was a an embrace of all the artists who help to share the story of historical events that have occurred. We each have a role to play in creating change no matter what it is, and his character reminded me of this.

I can keep writing, but I figured by now you’ve decided to see the film and support one of the ONLY Latino films that has gotten distribution and marketing attention at a national level. It’s bloody, but I promise you will love Cheech Marin’s role as Machete’s brother who is also a priest, and you may even enjoy Lindsey Lohan’s role as Booth’s drug addicted daughter (she also basically plays herself in this film too, which can be comical. I like it when “celebrities” can make fun of themselves).

VL Verdict: 8.5/9 out of 10