Machete

It started off as the greatest faux trailer on the planet when co-writer/co-director Robert Rodriguez contributed Machete to Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse. Crowds cheered and laughed. We all walked out thinking this would be a great movie if they decided to make it, and they did! OK. It turns out it's not great, but it is good.

Danny Trejo stars as Machete - a former Mexican Federale who saw his family killed in front him by his arch nemesis and Mexico's leading crime lord, Torrez (Steven Seagal). Left for dead, Machete crosses the border and gets hired to assassinate a Texas State Senator, John McLaughlin (Robert DeNiro), running on an anti-illegal immigration platform. Of course, it turns out to be a double cross, and Machete wants revenge on those who have wronged him.

Will Machete find the people responsible?

What grand conspiracy is he about to uncover?

Like Grindhouse, Machete is supposed to be an homage to those late night, B-movies you often see on cable featuring gratuitous nudity and bloody violence, but it doesn't go far enough often enough. It's perfectly campy and derives laughs from some of the most outrageous dialogue and action scenes of the year, but it feels like Rodriguez is only scratching the surface instead of digging in and getting every joke, which leaves long periods of the film where we aren't laughing or being blown away.

Sometimes, it takes the cast of Machete to keep us interested. Lindsay Lohan, in a role shot before her trip to jail and rehab, finds her character in situations only her biggest haters would imagine, but they are super funny and makes those in the crowd who get the jokes (and isn't that everybody at this point?) howl in delight.

Trejo is perfect as the stoic, tough guy trying to carry out justice, while Jessica Alba is in the best role she has had since Sin City. Yet, I still found myself wishing Don Johnson, Cheech Marin, Seagal and Michelle Rodriguez had more to do.

If you are looking for insightful social commentary hidden in the jokes, don't look that hard. You'll only strain something. Just enjoy the laughs.

Machete is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.