‘Machete’ cuts like a knife

It began as a joke, two minutes of over-the-top mayhem tacked onto the agreeably bloated “Grindhouse” double feature, a trailer touting a coming attraction that would never be coming. Yet “Machete” struck a nerve, at least in the mind of director Robert Rodriguez, and three years later the joke, stretched out to nearly two hours, has been reborn as a feature.

The movie may not turn 66-year-old Danny Trejo, a longtime supporting player who brought his bronzed biceps and ravaged look to disposable thrillers such as “Death Wish 4” and “Maniac Cop 2,” into a Bronsonesque leading man. Yet it allows him to goof on every cliché in the exploitation handbook, and he does so with a straight face, a furious growl and a closed fist.