3. Uncle Machete - Spy Kids 3D
The first Spy Kids was awesome, this much is plain. Yet if there's ever been a truer idiom in all life, it's that you shouldn't go back to once good. It's a lesson Trejo should've heeded in the first film, he was something akin to a breath of fresh air in an already unique film which decided to follow through on the interesting (and quietly insane) idea of taking Robert Rodriguez and his violence-committing collaborators planting them in a kids film. Trejo shone in the awesomely-named role of Uncle Machete, the titular Spy Kids' uncle (obviously) and brother to Antonio Banderas' Gregorio. It was a strange choice for seemed a bolt-on staple for low-budget actioners, cheesy drama and ultraviolence, but to be fair, he was an engaging presence who held his own easily. Yet come the third film, you could tell there was some phoning-in and living off past glories going on. It all seemed to be going alright up to a point they'd brought in new, big names to augment the difficult third film of the franchise such as Sylvester Stallone, Elijah Wood and even Khan himself, Ricardo Montalaban. But then the whole thing went to hell in a handbasket come the ending, as just about everyone from the previous films (including the villains) turned up to help the kids against Stallone's Toymaker. It was a little bit cheeky for my tastes, a diet-Trejo performance I found poor next to his original turn. I mean, if you are going to turn up again, surely it should involve more effort than this?