9 Pointless Political Statements In Otherwise Awesome Movies

8. U.S. Immigration Policy Is A Joke - Machete

Machete I can't imagine many expected Robert Rodriguez's tale about a group of guys who "f***ed with the wrong Mexican" to carry an overt political message, and yet, the Grindhouse-spawning blood-and-boobs exploitation-fest dared to have some pretensions to subtext. Machete in fact goes into surprising depth with its characterisation, painting Machete as a downtrodden immigrant living in Texas, who winds up being left for dead and becoming the unlikely hero of the immigrant community. Through Robert De Niro's Senator McLaughlin, the anti-immigration authorities are villainised as autocratic, violent thugs, implying that the hard-working Mexicans meanwhile are keen to earn their way and simply want a shot at a better life. While the hilarious inversion of McLaughlin ending up mistaken for an immigrant and being murdered is brilliant, on the whole Rodriguez devotes way too much time to this cause and nowhere near enough on the gratuitous sex and violence.
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.