Machete: A muddled mess

Ex - Federale Machete is hired to assassinate a high profile U.S. Senator but when he is double crossed, he must use all of his skills and cunning to uncover the truth behind why everyone seems to want him dead.

Robert Rodriguez continued to explore his “grindhouse” film roots with Machete (his previous picture, Planet Terror started the trend and the fake trailer for Machete was shown before it), a film loaded with all of the goods one would expect to see in an exploitation (or in this case Mexploitation) piece; absurd amounts of violence and action (which got dull after the tenth time Machete chopped down a bad guy), copious amounts of T & A and a good amount of acting which would not be considered Oscar - worthy (although Lindsay Lohan can play a drug addict surprisingly well!). But therein lies the problem with the film for Machete had all of that silliness and other grindhouse - esque qualities, but it also wanted the audience to take it seriously when the story delved into its parts regarding illegal immigration. Rodriguez and co-Director Ethan Maniquis failed to strike a proper balance between mindless and thought provoking, as a result, the film felt like one of those musical mash ups that failed to connect. Yes, this movie was not meant to be seen as the second coming of Macbeth for it functioned as a sort of male fantasy film with barely clothed women, big guns and loud explosions but if that was what Rodriguez and Maniquis were going for, the story should not have tried to eek out some half - baked social statement that only served to muddle up an already unbalanced film.

Next time (cause in this age of sequels, I got five bucks that says there will be one), just let Machete do his thing and keep the social commentary on the cutting room floor.

Grade: C

Predators: Finally, a sequel that delivers!

A group of warriors are dropped into the jungle of an alien world with no explanation. But soon after they realize that they were brought there for a nefarious purpose, to be hunted. If they want to survive, they’ll need to band together and fight off their hunters.

No one expects to go into a film such as Predators and see Shakespearian style acting and storytelling. For the most part, an audience is just looking to be entertained for an hour and forty-five minutes. Not only did Predators have to capture the attention of people new to the film series, but it also carried the extra burden of having to satisfy fanboys and girls of the Predator franchise who had suffered through two lousy Alien Vs. Predator films and were ready for something good.

Thankfully, the fanboys and girls have no reason to fear this new take. Under the watchful eye of Producer (and Predator fan) Robert Rodriguez, director Nimrod Antal delivered a highly entertaining action movie with an effective mix of homage to the Schwarzenegger classic to go along with new characters, environments and creatures. Adrien Brody is no Schwarzenegger, but he more than held his own as Royce, a former Black Ops soldier turned mercenary whose sole purpose in the beginning of the film was to get off the planet, with or without the help of the others. His character seemed to mirror, in a broader sense, that of the current “Me” generation that has to tweet their every move and then post a clip of what they did on You Tube moments later. Schwarzenegger’s Dutch was a soldier, a leader, so his struggle to defeat the Predator in the original made it easy for an audience to pull for him. With Royce, there needed to be some internal conflict in which he was given the opportunity to possibly change and grow from a selfish bastard into a redeemable man an audience would root for. His dilemma of staying a self-interested mercenary or teaming up with the other “targets” (including the beautiful Alice Braga as Isabelle, an IDF sniper) formed the emotional backdrop to the story and succeeded in further sucking in the audience when they were not busy squirming in their seats as Antal effectively built the tension throughout the movie.

Predators is a welcome return to what made the original such a blast to watch.

Grade: B