Machete Kills (also known as Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills) is a 2013 American action exploitation film directed by Robert Rodriguez, with a screenplay by Kyle Ward, from a story by Robert and Marcel Rodriguez.[4][5] Based on the eponymous character from the Spy Kids franchise, it is a sequel to Machete (2010), and is the third film based on a fake trailer in Grindhouse (2007). Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Tom Savini, Electra and Elise Avellan, Felix Sabates, and Jessica Alba reprise their roles from the first film, and are joined by series newcomers Mel Gibson, Demián Bichir, Amber Heard, Sofía Vergara, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Hudgens, Alexa Vega, William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and Charlie Sheen (credited by his birth name of "Carlos Estévez"). The film follows the titular ex-federal (Trejo) as he is recruited by the U.S. President (Sheen) to stop an arms dealer (Gibson) and a revolutionary (Bichir).[6]
Machete Kills was released in the United States by Open Road Films on October 11, 2013, failing to recoup its budget of $20 million and received generally mixed reviews, with critics citing the overuse of plot points, poorly produced CGI, and the "out-of-place" science fiction elements.
Machete Kills [2013]
Machete Cortez and agent Sartana Rivera attempt to arrest corrupt military members involved in a weapons deal with a Mexican drug cartel group. The gangsters wipe out the military team, but they in turn are wiped by another party of masked men headed by a luchador-masked leader who kills Sartana. Machete is arrested and hanged by corrupt Sheriff Doakes and Deputy Clebourne. However, he survives the hanging and the officers receive a call from the US President Rathcock. At the White House, Rathcock offers to wipe Machete's criminal record and grant him citizenship if he can confirm a threat from Marcos Mendez, a psychopath who wants to fire a nuclear missile at Washington, D.C. if the American government does not stop the cartels and the corrupt Mexican government.
Machete learns that Mendez has wired the missile's launch device to his own heart so that if he dies, the missile fires. Mendez kills the device's designer and activates its 24-hour timer. Killing Zaror along the way, Machete intends to escort Mendez to the US and find a way to disarm the missile. Mendez shares that he is a self-proclaimed secret agent who tried to expose his corrupt superiors, only to be betrayed and forced to watch his wife and family being tortured and killed, causing him to develop the split personality.
Machete contacts Vasquez to update her on progress, but is betrayed and ambushed at their meeting since Vasquez has sided with Voz. Machete follows her to the desert by jumping on her vehicle's rooftop, but is thrown off. Machete gets a ride from El Camaleón, who tries to kill him one last time, but he escapes, leaving El Camaleón to be killed by a racist group of rednecks on border patrol. Machete and Luz's Network infiltrate a fundraiser at Voz's base of operations, but Voz shoots the jar and kills Osiris. Machete realizes Voz was the masked man who killed Sartana and fights him. He severely burns Voz's face, forcing him to retreat and don a metallic silver mask. Meanwhile, Vasquez shoots Luz in her good eye, completely blinding her. Luz fights and kills Vasquez, but she in turn is frozen in carbonite and captured by Voz.
Machete Kills was released theatrically in the United States on October 11, 2013, by Open Road Pictures; the film's release date was initially set for September 13, but was pushed back to avoid competition with Insidious: Chapter 2.[35]
Machete had one of the strangest origins. It began as a fake trailer in Grindhouse, but the fake trailer was so popular they turned it into a real movie. Unfortunately, while that movie earned good reviews, the target audience for Grindhouse cinema is too small to thrive in theaters. It must have done well enough to justify a sequel in someone's mind, albeit a sequel with a greatly reduced production budget being released by a smaller studio. But can the sequel live up to its predecessor? More...Weekend Wrap-Up: Another Orbit for GravityOctober 22nd, 2013
As expected, Gravity remained on top of the weekend box office chart for the third weekend it a row. It became the first film released in 2013 to earn the hat trick, and very likely the last. Unfortunately, two of the three wide releases missed expectations, which hurt the overall box office numbers. Compared to last week, the overall box office was down by 11% to $103 million. Compared to last year, the box office was down 35%. Ouch. 2013 is still ahead of 2012's pace, but by less than 1% at $8.36 billion to $8.29 billion. More...Weekend Wrap-Up: Gravity Soars Above, but Box Office Lacks DepthOctober 15th, 2013
Both Gravity and Captain Phillips topped expectations, which is a reason to celebrate. However, it's practically the only reason to celebrate. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 did well, but from that point on, the box office was a disaster. Overall, the total box office was $116 million, which was down 8% from last week. Compared to last year, the box office was down by 10%. How can this year's top film earn more than twice as much as last year's number one film, but still lose out overall? Last year, the fourth place film was Hotel Transylvania, which earned $17.24 million. This year the fourth place film was Machete Kills, which earned just $3.84 million. The depth this year is simply terrible. Year-to-date, 2013 is still ahead of 2012, but by less than 1% at $8.21 billion to $8.15 billion. More...Weekend Estimates: Gravity Floats Past Captain PhillipsOctober 13th, 2013
What could have been a close-run race at the box office this weekend turned into a comfortable win for Gravity, but for all the right reasons. Captain Phillips opened with a sturdy $26 million, on the back of some excellent reviews. But that isn't close to enough to unseat Gravity, which will post one of the best second weekends for a wide release in a long time. Comparisons with Argo are inevitable -- the Oscar-winner fell just 15% in its second weekend, while Gravity will be off 21%, but Gravity opened with over $50 million, compared to Argo's $20 million or so, which makes the performance all the more impressive.More...Weekend Predictions: Smooth Sailing for Gravity?October 11th, 2013
There are two wide releases this week: Captain Phillips and Machete Kills. The former is a potential Awards Season player, while the latter is definitely not. Unfortunately, neither seems likely to challenge Gravity for top spot at the box office this weekend. Captain Phillips should come in a solid second place, while Machete Kills will try not to under-perform when compared to Runner Runner's opening from last weekend. Gravity could help 2013 top last year's box office, which was led by Taken 2 in its second weekend of release. The best new release was Argo, but it opened with less than $20 million and Captain Phillips should top that. However, last year had much better depth and might prove to be too much for 2013 to overcome. More...Contest: Over and Under the SeaOctober 3rd, 2013
Captain Phillips isn't the only film opening wide next week, but it might as well be. It could open with more than Machete Kills earns in total. Because of this, it is the easy choice for the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Captain Phillips. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of The Little Mermaid on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!More...2013 Preview: OctoberOctober 1st, 2013 2ff7e9595c
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