Machete

Machete is a 2010 American exploitation action film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. The film is an expansion of a fake trailer of the same name published as a part of the promotion of Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, and includes some of the footage from the original. The film stars Danny Trejo as the title character, reprising the role from the fake trailer. Trejo also previously portrayed an alternate version of the character in the Spy Kids films. It additionally co-stars Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, and Robert De Niro. This was Trejo's first lead role as the character, and Seagal's first theatrically released film since 2002's Half Past Dead. Machete was released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on September 3, 2010. A sequel, Machete Kills, solely directed by Rodriguez, was released on October 11, 2013. Plot In Mexico, Machete Cortez, a Mexican Federal and his younger partner are on a mission to rescue a kidnapped girl. During the operation, his partner is killed, the kidnapped girl stabs him in the leg before being killed herself, and Machete is betrayed by his corrupt Chief to the powerful drug lord and former Federal, Rogelio Torrez, who kills Machete's wife and implies that he will kill his daughter before leaving him for dead. Three years later, a down-and-out Machete roams Texas, scraping by on yard work. Michael Booth, a local businessman and spin doctor, explains to Machete that corrupt Texas State Senator John McLaughlin is sending hundreds of illegal immigrants out of the country, which would reduce the number of laborers. In order to stop this, Booth offers Machete $150,000 to kill McLaughlin. Machete accepts the murder contract after Booth threatens to kill him if he does not.