You can’t fault Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse for its ambition, with the duo teaming up to deliver an ode to the glory days of 1970s exploitation cinema, even if the results were fairly disastrous. Audiences simply didn’t share their enthusiasm, and while the film itself cratered at the box office, Danny Trejo’s Machete emerged as a winner.
Boiling the wildly entertaining slice of B-movie insanity down to its essence, what we have is a spinoff from a fake trailer designed specifically to play in the middle of a film that flopped in theaters and lost a fortune, which then went on to recoup its budget four times over in ticket sales before getting an even crazier sequel.
When you think about it, that’s an entirely fitting legacy for Machete to leave behind, because it isn’t exactly an actioner that leaves many stones unturned. You want Michelle Rodriguez as an RPG-wielding rebel with an eye patch? Sure. Lindsay Lohan as a gun-toting nun? Cool. Robert De Niro hamming it up as a corrupt senator? You got it. Steven Seagal and Trejo doing some figurative d*ck-measuring in a climactic sword fight? Why not.
Even though it looks as if Machete Kills Again in Space isn’t going to happen, the opening installment retains its popularity as the perfect way to spend a couple of hours when you want your brain switched firmly to the off-setting. As a result, Trejo’s knife-wielding federale has made a return to prominence on streaming per FlixPatrol, with the unexpected franchise-launcher cutting a brutal path through the most-watched rankings on both Starz and iTunes.