History Film / Machete

%% * BlondeBrunetteRedhead: April, Luz, Rivera and June.

%% ** [[spoiler:Luz's fate. She dons an eyepatch to manage.]] The fact that the character in question loses an eye at all is probably a reference to what happens to Creator/JohnnyDepp in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'', from the same director.

** Normally two girls having sexual acts together in a home porn movie would be hot but the fact that the two stars are [[ParentalIncest mother and daughter]] makes this all the more Squick than Fanservice.

** Gratuitous nudity about three minutes into the movie. [[FanDisservice Too bad the girl in question gets blown away.]]

* GodivaHair: April, waking up in a church after having been fucked sensele... drugged by Machete. It doesn't always cover everything up.

%% * KavorkaMan: Ladies ''love'' Machete. Considering the trailer insists "Machete gets the women," this [[YouCantFightFate was unavoidable]].

** And last but not least, Danny Trejo! For his entire career, he has been typecast as "that creepy KnifeNut Mexican". Here, he finally gets a leading role as the described character type.

* KnifeNut: Machete has a whole collection of Machetes, using them to kill goon after goon.

** Normally two girls having sexual acts together in a home porn movie would be hot but the fact that the two stars are [[IncestIsRelative mother and daughter]] makes this all the more Squick than Fanservice.

* AboveTheInfluence: Machete, with a drunk Jessica Alba no less. [[spoiler:Mind you, it works out for him.]]

* ActionGirl: Luz and Sartana. April in the end TookALevelInBadass.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Machete is not actually his [[TheyCallHimSword nickname]], it's his ''birth name''. Doubles as a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Name to Run Away from Really Fast]]. His ''full'' name is Machete Cortez.
** The original spelling of the surname (Cortés) means "[[NonIndicativeName Polite]]", while the one used in the movie could be translated as "Son of the Cut".

* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: Rivera.
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: [[spoiler:Born-again April, with ''[[ImprobableAimingSkills automatic weaponry]]''.]]
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: April, Luz, Rivera and June.
* BloodyHilarious: All over the place, but mostly ''the intestines.''
* BloodstainedGlassWindows: The showdown between Padre and Osiris.

* CaptainObvious: One of the films is called ''Machete Kills''.

* CarMeetsHouse: Several times.

* DangerTakesABackSeat:
** [[spoiler:How Luz finishes off Von Jackson in the end.]]
** Machete uses this to bust himself out of the first arrest.
* [[DarkActionGirl Dark]] FauxActionGirl: Aside from shooting the naked woman (who also counts) who tricks Machete in the opening in the back of the head in her first scene, Cheryl Chin's character does ... pretty much nothing. [[spoiler: All she does when Torrez dies is pout fetchingly.]]

* EthnicMenialLabor: You didn't suspect the movie will feature Hispanic laborers, did ya?

* EverybodyKnewAlready: Luz is She... who'da thunk?
* EverythingIsBigInTexas: Including man-sized machetes.

* ExaggeratedTrope: Hoo boy. It would be easier to say that every trope listed is exaggerated to varying degrees, and some are driven SerialEscalation.

* EyeScream:
** [[spoiler:Luz's fate. She dons an eyepatch to manage.]] The fact that the character in question loses an eye at all is probably a reference to what happens to Creator/JohnnyDepp in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'', from the same director.
** Sartana can do this with [[ImprovisedWeapon her stiletto heels.]]

* FalseFlagOperation: The bad guy's plot.
* FairCop: Sartana Rivera

* GunsAkimbo: With [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotguns]] no less!
* GratuitousSpanish: Lots of it.

** One of the mooks at Booth's house is Hungarian.

* ImpairmentShot: Machete as he is wheeled into an ER.

** "Welcome to America."
* TheIllegal: Major plot point.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Every Mook suffers from this.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Nearly every hero (and the top-tier [[BigBad Bad Guys]]) have this.

* InspectorJavert: Rivera, at first.

** In a rare [[ZigzaggingTrope Triple Subversion]], [[spoiler: [=McLaughlin=]. First he looks like he's going to escape disguised as a Mexican (after helping the Mexicans, strangely enough), but then April shoots him. Then he turns out to have survived thanks to a bulletproof vest, and flees on foot. But then he gets killed by Von Jackson's men, mistaking him for a Mexican.]]
*** ...or perhaps not, as they were planning on executing him earlier, anyway.

* KavorkaMan: Ladies ''love'' Machete. Considering the trailer insists "Machete gets the women," this [[YouCantFightFate was unavoidable]].

* MeaningfulEcho: "If not us, then who?"
* MeaningfulName: Machete, Booth... Probably the most meaningful name in the entire movie is Luz, who is a beacon of hope for her people.
* MisfitMobilizationMoment: The "Network" mobilizes.

* MobileKiosk: Luz's taco van.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [=McLaughlin=] is a far right-wing politician out of Texas, [[spoiler: [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush who isn't even from Texas originally]].]] There are a few nods to Ron Paul's alleged white supremacist ties, as well.
** This is a case of AcceptableTargets, as [=McLaughlin's=] platform bears little resemblance to even the most exaggerated caricature of Bush's actual immigration policies.

* NoodleIncident: All those newspaper headlines that "She" was responsible for...

* OffstageVillainy: Torrez' drug operations have been... expanding.

* ParentalIncest[=/=]VillainousIncest: Booth confesses to impure thoughts about April. Meanwhile, she's filming porn with her mother.

* PsychoForHire: Osiris Amanpour (1-800-HITMAN).

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Network. Also counts as LaResistance.

* RefugeInAudacity or RuleOfCool: Take your pick.
** [[SoBadItsGood Refuge In So Bad Its Good]]: every [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse plot hole]], SpecialEffectsFailure, awful delivery, [[FlatCharacter poorly defined character]] and CG only make it a better homage to the schlock that codified these tropes.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: Von Jackson and his border vigilantes.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: They DID, after all, just fuck with the wrong Mexican...
* RousingSpeech: given by [[spoiler: Sartana]] to the Mexican workers, and it's appropriately cheesy.
* RuleOfFun: Robert [=DeNiro's=] reason for being here.
* RunningGag: Von Jackson's [[TheDragon dragon]] throwing up after witnessing something violent. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Von Jackson himself.
-->"You need to work on that."

* ShroudedInMyth: "She", as well as Machete by the end.

* SleazyPolitician[=/=]StrawHypocrite: Senator [=McLaughlin=], [[ExaggeratedTrope to the point of absurdity]]. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments When your political ads could have come straight from a GTA game]], it's kind of a given.

* SouthOfTheBorder: Parodied.

* SplitScreen: The fight scene at Jessica Alba's house.

* StylisticSuck: This being a ''[=Grindhouse=]'' [=spinoff=] and parody... you can tell Rodriguez was aiming to fill the movie to the brim with cheesy special effects and intentional FridgeLogic. For example, a lot of the effects are obviously intentionally half-assed or done wrong.

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Torrez]] considers this as he's dying...
-->''"...But you'll probably be in Hell waiting for me."''
* TankTopTomboy: Agent Rivera, who is always presented as an ActionGirl.

* TestosteronePoisoning

* [[TheyCallHimSword They Call Him Machete]]: [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep That's also his real first name]].

* [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Throwing Your Machete Always Works]]: In this movie, ''it does.''

* {{Troperrific}}: No exploitation movie trope was left untouched!

* VictoriasSecretCompartment: This might be an example, or it might not be, but the nude woman in the opening scene eventually withdraws a phone from Victoria's OTHER Secret Compartment. In other words, someplace you really, really [[CountryMatters shouldn't keep a phone]].
* VillainousBreakdown: Booth.

* WeaponizedCar: a whole fleet of these in the climax. Except that at some point they ran out of weapons and put in hydraulics instead.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[ProfessionalKiller Osiris]] disappears before the climax, without getting killed or finishing his job. In one of his later scenes, he notes that Machete isn't looking for ''him'', implying that he simply quit. He was originally supposed to get caught scoping out the chop shop and get decapitated by a power saw, but the scene was deleted.

* WorldOfBadass: It can be simply said that the entire cast lives and breathes badassery.
* WorldOfHam: Machete ''is'' the page summary for this trope.

* SexyButUselessMother: June Booth, mother of April Booth, doesn't do anything to improve any situations. [[spoiler:Except filming secret swimming pool video with her daughter.]] and [[spoiler:passing out when she finds out about her husband's fate.]] That's all.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:All the bad guys to each other when Machete ruins their plans, ''again''.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Textbook example when [[spoiler:April shows up in the end to shoot [=McLaughlin=].]]

In 2007, Rodriguez filmed parts of ''Machete'' for a fake trailer attached to the beginning of ''Film/{{Grindhouse}}''. After making another [[Film/{{Shorts}} children's film]], he revisited ''Machete'' and set about making it into an actual film. The final product includes [[AscendedMeme every scene from the fake trailer]], and gained massive popularity as the quintessential exploitation action flick parody of the '00s. It boasts an impressive cast, including Creator/DannyTrejo, Creator/StevenSeagal, Creator/RobertDeNiro, [[Creator/CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]], Creator/JessicaAlba, Creator/LindsayLohan, Creator/MichelleRodriguez, and more.

* MayDecemberRomance: Machete (66-year-old Danny Trejo) gets it on with Luz (32-year old Michelle Rodriguez) halfway through the movie and rides off with Sartana (29-year-old Jessica Alba) at the end.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: April, Luz and Rivera.

* GirlOnGirlIsHot: April exploits and lampshades this trope by filming a porno film with her mother in their backyard swimming pool while her dad is away at work. Then Machete joins them...

* SexyButUselessMother: June Booth, mother of April Booth, doesn't do anything to improve any situations.[[spoiler:Except filming secret swimming pool video with her daughter.]] and [[spoiler:passing out when she finds out about her husband's fate.]] That's all.

* SexyButUselessMother: June Booth, the MILFy mother of April Booth, doesn't do anything to improve any situations.

* ManlyFacialHair: Just look at it. The padre has an awesome 'stache as well.

* BadassMustache: Just look at it. The padre has an awesome one as well.

The story of ''Machete'' is an interesting one. It began when Creator/RobertRodriguez first met Creator/DannyTrejo on the set of ''Film/{{Desperado}}''. He believed Trejo should have been a "Mexican Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme or Creator/CharlesBronson" named Machete. Other projects got in the way, though, and ''Machete'' was put on the shelf. Rodriguez continued to use scenes he had planned for it in his other movies, and also introduced a [[LighterAndSofter significantly friendlier version]] of the character in ''Film/SpyKids''.

* LatinoIsBrown: The red-headed kid in the Latino community has to explain that he's not Mexican, he just grew up in the neighborhood. Torrez appears to be of mostly Spanish ancestry, explaining away his being portrayed by a white actor.

** Normally two girls having sexual acts together in a home porn movie would be hot but the fact that the two stars are [[IncestIsRelative mother and daughter]] makes all the more Squick than Fanservice.
** Michael admitting to the priest about secretly having the hits for his own daughter.
** She getting shot and her eye blown out.

* BadassGrandpa: Machete Cortez' birthday is listed as May 16, 1944... which is Danny Trejo's birthday, making him 66.

** [[SoBadItsGood Refuge In So Bad Its Good]]: every [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse plot hole]], SpecialEffectsFailure, awful delivery, [[FlatCharacter poorly defined character]] and ConspicuousCG only make it a better homage to the schlock that codified these tropes.

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: [=McLaughlin=] after getting shot up by the remnants of Von Jackson's group when he is mistaken for a Mexican. He seems to enjoy the irony and gives a classic De Niro grin.]]

** The nonfatal assassination itself has been to compared to the shooting of former Taiwan president Chen Shubian, complete with "magic bullet" accusations (it grazed his belly).

* EyepatchOfPower: [[spoiler:Luz gets one after her she gets shot in the eye.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: The entire reason Machete's in this situation, because he wouldn't let Torrez kills the girl he kidnapped no matter what he might do to him.

* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw The Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: When Sartana gets pulled off the case, she decides to deliver all the evidence she has acquired from Machete to a news reporter.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHAveRules: Torrez mentions that normally, he bribes the authorities to leave him alone. Machete can't be bought.

* TheSiege: The climax of the film. Rather appropriately, given the film's pro-immigration themes, the heroes are the ones trying to break into the fort.

A sequel called ''Film/MacheteKills'' was released October 11, 2013, with Trejo, Alba, and Michelle Rodriguez slated returning alongside Amber Heard, Music/LadyGaga, Creator/MelGibson, and Creator/CharlieSheen (as Carlos Estevez, his birth name).

-->'''Thug''': "Please, have mercy!"

* DarthVaderClone: [[spoiler:Luther Voz in ''Machete Kills'' and in the trailer for ''Machete Kills Again... In Space!''.]]

* KarmicDeath / HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: [=McLaughlin=] - after putting on a Hispanic-looking outfit to escape the Big Final Shootout - is caught stumbling along the border fence by remnants of Von Jackson's army and shot down, falling into the electrified fence. [=McLaughlin=] even smiles as he dies, apparently appreciating the irony.]]

* KnifeNut: Both the hero and the villain use them as their weapon of choice.
** Machete has a whole collection of Machetes, using them to kill goon after goon.
** Torrez is particularely fond of Katanas.

* MafiaPrincess: April relishes quite a bit in the life her criminal father allows her to live. He's disgusted by the way she sells herself as a wannabe porn starlett however, but not because he wants to protect his daughter; he wants to have her for himself.

* ModestyBedsheet: Jessica Alba poses nude in front of a refrigerator with her arms positioned in just the right way to hide anything naughty (and in fact Alba was wearing normal underwear which was CGI'd out.

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Invoked when [[spoiler: Machete]] hacks the encrypted files on [[spoiler: Booth's]] computer.

* WriterOnBoard: Played for laughs and invoked. Rodriguez does, apparently, mean the film's pro-immigration stance sincerely, but he also portrays the conflict as not even really about race, but about money, with a Mexican drug lord as one of the main villains, and turns up the {{narm}} and {{anvilicious}}ness, since it ''is'' meant to be a throwback to stupid race exploitation films that ''were'' iconic to the post-Civil Rights movement.

-->"Well, [[ToBeLawfulOrGood there's the law and there's what's right]]. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome I'm gonna do what's right]]."

* SleazyPolitician[=/=]StrawHypocrite: Senator [=McLaughlin=], [[ExaggeratedTrope to the point of absurdity]]. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny When your political ads could have come straight from a GTA game]], it's kind of a given.

* GirlOnGirlIsHot: April exploits and lampshades this trope by filming a porno film with her mother in their backyard swimming pool while be dad is away at work. Then Machete joins them...