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MACHETEMovie Reviews
Action adventure about a knife-wielding vigilante who is nearly finished in an assassination attempt and later seeks vengeance against those who wronged him. Cast:Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven SeagalDirector:Robert Rodriguez, Ethan ManiquisRelease Date:September 3, 2010DVD Release:January 4, 2011From:20th Century FoxRating:RLength:1 hr. 45 min.
Machete played to good reviews. • Tom Horgen wrote in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "...absurd, absolutely insane and a lot of fun." • And Stephen Cole wrote in the Toronto Globe & Mail, "...never more than an amiable series of riffs on 1970s exploitation movies, a genre that never valued narrative integrity. The riffs are pleasurable." More Reviews Below...
Richard Corliss, Time: VERY GOOD "...nonstop mayhem with a corpse count in the hundreds and a merry wink in every eye that hasn't been sliced open.... expert, cartoon-violent, light-hearted fun."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 953 words, 09/03/10
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Viewers get precisely what they're paying for: beheadings, skewerings and kill shots to the head by the dozen, with other means of dispatch tossed in for variety."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 09/02/10
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "...pops with stunt casting: Lindsay Lohan... Robert De Niro... the movie's biggest feat is putting perennial supporting player Trejo (the 'Spy Kids' series) center stage..."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 114 words, 09/02/10
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a gory, pulpy wink of an action thriller.... The violence is splatterifically witty, but the minor marvel of 'Machete' is how mean everyone in the movie is."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 338 words, 09/03/10
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...torture, blood spray, kinky sex, twisted fun... Just to hear Trejo deadpan the line 'Machete don't text' is tasty compensation."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 148 words, 09/03/10
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "...entertaining and blood-spattered... combines sharp satire and timely political commentary with a decidedly B-movie ethos. The result is inconsistent but amusing."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 09/03/10
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...over-the-top, graphic violence; scenery-chewing villains; cheesy one-liners; and plenty of naked boobs and bums. It's all there in glorious 2D. R-rated silliness."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 885 words, 09/05/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (14 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...laughter is the appropriate response to this pulpy, lighthearted gorefest... The pace is swift, the tone playful, the screenplay peppered with one-liners."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 732 words, 09/03/10
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "The best examples of wit are film-stock scratches and glitches that occur right at the moment a head or hand gets sliced off."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 416 words, 09/03/10
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: MODERATE "...outlandishly gory and bluntly political, the latter being more interesting than the former. It wears out its welcome, though..."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 427 words, 09/03/10
Kyle Smith, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Any movie that finds a plausible reason to give Lindsay Lohan a nun's habit and a machine gun is worth your attention..."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 09/03/10
John Anderson, New York Newsday: VERY GOOD(cg) "Everyone delivers, notably Michelle Rodriguez, who turns in perhaps her most charming performance, and Jessica Alba... Lohan is hilarious..."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 399 words, 09/03/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "Trejo, for all his gravity, doesn't have a lot of range... Rodriguez has less. The movie is ham-handed, repetitive, and rhythm-less -- a mess that's uglier than its hero..."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 498 words, 09/03/10
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one bloody good B-movie, with De Niro, Lohan, Alba, Seagal and Johnson, among others, all taking a supporting back seat to Trejo..."(See all of Richard Roeper's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 698 words, 09/03/10
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...made with a laziness that's so overt it seems to be part of the joke... when 'Machete' isn't laugh-out-loud funny, it's deadly boring."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 741 words, 09/01/10
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...hilarious... On the stupid side of the equation, lead director Robert Rodriguez takes his mission far too seriously, occasionally forgetting his mandate to entertain."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 738 words, 09/03/10
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...never more than an amiable series of riffs on 1970s exploitation movies, a genre that never valued narrative integrity. The riffs are pleasurable."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 638 words, 09/03/10
Josep Parera, La Opinion: GOOD(cg) "...dejando de lado intenciones políticas, cabe reconocer que este 'Machete' no deja indiferente, aunque su filo provoque más cosquillas que heridas..."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 556 words, 09/03/10
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: WEAK(cg) "...if the idea is to satirize B-flicks, to bring some cutting wit into the mix of blood and race and sex, then its blade is far too dull.... 'Machete' is one blunt instrument."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 09/03/10
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a cutting edge spoof of '70s B-movies.... an Hispanic American version of a blaxploitation film of the 'Super Fly' school..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 09/03/10
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...insanely violent, insanely over-the-top. It's pretty much flat-out insane. It's also insanely entertaining, though not - not - for the faint of heart."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 600 words, 09/03/10
Preston Jones, Dallas Morning News: EXCELLENT(cg) "A loud, giddy, carnal blast from one of cinema's most relentless schlock auteurs... best enjoyed with your brain switched off."(See all of Preston Jones's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 611 words, 09/03/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a trash guilty pleasure with a healthy (if really violent) sense of outrage.... Rodriguez's freest movie yet, and possibly his best."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 626 words, 09/03/10
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...made with a laziness that's so overt it seems to be part of the joke... when 'Machete' isn't laugh-out-loud funny, it's deadly boring."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 741 words, 09/01/10
Scott Tobias, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...often stylish and exciting, but the pile-up of cool kills, hot bodies, and other unprocessed bits of juvenilia doesn't add up to a good time."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 399 words, 09/02/10
Nick Schager, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...too often opts to earnestly indulge in the very badass poses and sincere political sermonizing it should be delivering with tongue firmly in cheek..."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 702 words, 08/30/10
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...crazy-funny-violent... there's a refreshing nothing-sacred attitude, which is exactly the kind of eccentricity that this kind of movie demands, and gets exactly right."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 832 words, 09/01/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...laughter is the appropriate response to this pulpy, lighthearted gorefest... The pace is swift, the tone playful, the screenplay peppered with one-liners."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 732 words, 09/03/10
Joe Leydon, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "An aggressively overstated mashup of testosterone-fueled melodrama, comically exaggerated violence and babe-o-licious action femmes... wildly uneven..."(See all of Joe Leydon's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 858 words, 08/31/10
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: MODERATE "...a relentless onslaught of over-the-top violence, extreme gore, gratuitous nudity and cheap laughs, with a healthy dose of up-to-the-minute political satire..."(See all of Frank Scheck's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 760 words, 09/01/10
Stephen Holden, New York Times: VERY GOOD "...laughter is the appropriate response to this pulpy, lighthearted gorefest... The pace is swift, the tone playful, the screenplay peppered with one-liners."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 732 words, 09/03/10
19.2 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Machete's reviews are separated by an average 19.2 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Machete (42 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Machete's reviews cover 69.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 23,400 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 557 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 6.4 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Machete's reviews on average broke 6.4 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Machete's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
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