Pressbook: Machete Kills (2013)
Reviewed 10/13, © Stephen Bourne
Click here for the Machete Kills movie review

"'Machete Kills' is an action-packed thrill ride about the adventures of legendary secret agent Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo). In his latest mission, Machete is recruited by the U.S. President (Carlos Estevez) to stop a crazed global terrorist (Mel Gibson) from starting a nuclear war. With a bounty on his head, Machete faces death at every turn from an all-star cast of deadly assassins." - machetekillsmovie.tumblr.com

Here's a quick look at this movie's pressbook [?] stuff:

Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios serves up a fairly robust selection of posters for Machete Kills, starting off with a couple of wonderfully gritty, simple Trejo-plus-title graphic layouts reminiscent of its cranked out Grindhouse roots. Sadly, they're eclipsed by a series of slick character one-sheets more or less combined for the final splashy-looking yet fairly unimaginative ensemble poster that misses the point by trying too hard. Maybe the final poster is supposed to visually spoof the explosives-riddled action movie poster design cliché of bigger, busier, bustier layouts. The audacious tagline, 'Trained to kill. Left for dead. Back for more.' brings the same dopey humour reflected on-screen. But the final poster's over-all weak clutter and heavily photoshopped glossiness pretty much disconnect it from those cheesy low-budget elements that make this hip franchise a fun guilty pleasure for contemporary B-movie fans. Check out the Machete Kills posters at impawards.com

The two-minute green band trailer for this movie is a great fan-pleaser. It's tightly edited with punchy clips that beautifully highlight the bombastic and dopey gore expected on the big screen. However, the trailer is somewhat misleading plot-wise. It suggests the president hires Machete to hunt down Mel Gibson's character, not the Mexican revolutionary played by Demián Bichir mentioned and seen briefly in the trailer, as well as prominently featured in the movie. It probably doesn't matter too much, but feels like an unnecessarily curious sell-out showcasing the more famous, playfully novel celebrity faces when most ticket-buyers likely just want to see Trejo slash and grimace through this sequel regardless of whomever else shares the scenes. Later on, the trailer features Gibson mentioning his army of super soldiers, but you see clips of characters played by more recognizable celebs instead. None of them portray the super soldiers. I figure the sloppy narration is a playful nod to how cheesy B-movie trailers were, back in the day, uh, yesterday...

The official website at machetekillsmovie.tumblr.com exploits a barrage of great pics, clips and videos along with the character posters, movie synopsis and social media links. You'll also find a smattering of impressive fan art, and the hilarious Machete: Anatomy of Vengeance external webpage offering fun, Chuck Norris-like Machete tidbits such as 'If you laid out the intestines of every person Machete has gutted, they would wrap around the Earth 3 times'. Definitely a clever highlight. Plus, fans can snag it as a downloadable, seven megabyte infographic poster for free. Back at the main site, check out the Pinterest link for Open Road Films' gallery of behind the scenes photos, posters and memes. Want more? Click the site's Instagram icon to find an amazing array of scene stills and red carpet shots. Love it. The online presence for Machete Kills is absolutely impressive, but it would have been killer if the peripheral social media treasures had somehow been more obviously integrated into the main site. Reviewed 10/13, © Stephen Bourne.

Click here for the Machete Kills movie review

top | home | index