Machete (2010)

MACHETE

DIRECTED BY: ROBERT RODRIGUEZ & ETHAN MANIQUIS

WRITTEN BY: ROBERT RODRIGUEZ & ALVARO RODRIGUEZ

OVERALL SCORE: 6.00/10

After being setup to take the fall during a hired hit on racist senator Charles McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), ex-Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) enacts vengeance on those behind the scenes. Meanwhile local illegal immigrant helper Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) must work with FBI Sartana (Jessica Alba) to help deal with an impending race war.

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Much in the same vein of last year's Black Dynamite, I found myself once again drawn to a film, if for no other reason than, for its desire to satire a section of filmmaking. Returning, on some level, to Grindhouse films (though this time, much notably more tame in style), Rodriguez creates an interesting, albeit underwhelming, world for our over the top hero to perform carnage in. And Carnage is exactly what we get.

Always with a sense of comical over the top antics, Rodriguez balances message, action, and style with a hint of that old school skill that helped make him a name. It's a start in the right direction, but a foreboding of what can go wrong if he swerves too far. For, as you might well imagine, Machete works as much in its favor as it does out of it.

When it's being ironic (pretty much every time Trejo is passed as a sex symbol) Machete is fun, upbeat, and amusing. When it's dealing with the message, Machete is short winded, and only barely manages to connect the dots. When dealing with its plot Machete just lets things happen for no particular reason and hopes for the best.

The characters are fun, but most of them are cardboard and disposable coming and going into what I can only imagine are magic time delay boxes when the plot sees fit. Though I'm sure you're saying, who cares about plot!? Well, I do, and since it's my review that's where I'm going. You see, Machete, no matter what else it does builds to one particular moment. It's hinted at in the commercials, and we all know its coming... and when it does. I believe we all know the saying going out with a whimper instead of a bang?

It's not that the scene is bad, it's done in a way meant to be amusing and cheesy. Rather, it's that there's just not much to it. You'd think with the talent involved that finale would be more grand, more intense, over the top, and out there. Despite a couple of scenes (a handful ripped right from the trailer) it never reaches there. It entertains, but fizzles quickly into the realm of the forgotten. A strong showing, just not a strong impact.

Worthy of your time for its ability to, at times, be hilarious, smart, and fun just long enough for the runtime to take its course.

If you can get into Machete without expecting too much in the realm of viable plot or intricate details you'll be able to find it entertaining for most counts. Still, despite its promise, and foundation, Machete never escapes its own desire for homage, and allows cheese to get the better of itself, keeping it from rising beyond mindless entertainment. No matter how well intention a mindless action film it might be.

The Informant (2009)

THE INFORMANT

DIRECTED BY: STEVEN SODERBERGH
WRITTEN BY: SCOTT Z. BURNS
BASED ON THE BOOK BY: KURT EICHENWALD
OVERALL SCORE: 5.50/10

Company executive Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) decides one day to aid the FBI is capturing his company in an international price fixing scandal. But as the FBI gets closer and closer to making the case, Mark finds his life getting more and more difficult.

I have to admit I've been sitting on this review for nearly a month now. Walking away from the credits I had no idea what score to give the movie. Part satire, part comedy, part character study, all mildly interesting, even at their shining moments, The Informant felt to me like a movie grounded by a single great performance, stuck in a world of mediocrity. Sure there's some good side performances, and I'm always up for a Joel McHale sighting, but throughout the entire tale I never felt any interest in where it was going.

The main character is not likable in the least bit, and I think the movie knows it. Our supporting cast range from bumbling to generic company executives, all the while we have nothing really to connect to. Perhaps I believe the biggest mistake of the film was to make it a satire, rather than a thriller/drama. Throughout the runtime there's an overbearing feeling of forced jokes, bland social criticism, and a narration, that while perfectly done, feels as if it's weighing down the film. These satirical moments feel as if they remove the film of all of its tension, and I have to say they seldom inspired even near a chuckle.

Even with the knowledge that I tend to find movies like this funnier after the fact, and on repeat viewings, throughout the time I found myself more concerned with what time it was, than the characters. Their attitudes all felt cardboard, and disinterested to me. While Whitacre's tale is painful to watch, and easy to get emotionally involved in, I never much cared about the guy. And for a character study piece you need some sort of emotional investment, regardless of whether or not it's positive or negative to see it through. Here it all just felt jumbled. As if the movie wanted to be way too many things at any particular point. It wanted to be a dark comedy drama with social context and an anti-corporation executive stance. In the end all I saw was a film that had more potential than execution, and more intended jokes than actual ones.

While I'm sure it will appease those with its particular brand of humor, I found little to praise, and even less to care about, with this 2009 Soderbergh outing.