Danny Trejo played Isador “Machete” Cortez in the Robert Rodriguez-produced Spy Kids movies: Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over from 2001 to 2003. Machete is a former Mexican Federale and mercenary. Although he prefers to use a machete, from where he gets his nickname, he is also an expert shooter. He is the uncle of Juni and Carmen Cortez in Spy Kids, and the brother of their father. He has a store where he sells spy gear. “When I met Danny, I said, ‘This guy should be like the Mexican Jean-Claude Van Damme or Charles Bronson, putting out a movie every year and his name should be Machete,’” Rodriguez told IGN.

In the video game Spy Kids: Mega Mission Zone, Trejo also provided the voice for Uncle Machete. He returned to his part as Machete in a made-up trailer for Grindhouse in 2007. Then, in a 2010 spin-off exploitation movie with the same name as his character, Machete, Trejo resumed his role. In the 2011 film Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, Trejo returned again as Machete. Because of Machete’s success, a direct sequel, Machete Kills, was released in 2013, and Trejo returned to play the title character once more. But, how do all of these performances rank? Read on to find out what Danny Trejo’s best work as Machete is.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World

     Dimension Films

Marissa Wilson (Jessica Alba), a former Cortez family spy, is recalled to duty. She takes her new stepchildren Rebecca and Cecil (Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook) along for the trip as a way to get to know them. When the wicked Timekeeper tries to rule the world, things don’t go as planned and he must be stopped. As Uncle Machete, Trejo makes a comeback and helps Marissa, his sister, accomplish her goal. Sadly, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in World was just not good enough, and only received a 2.9 out of 10 rating from fans on Metacritic.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

6 Grindhouse

The 2007 movie Grindhouse, written and produced by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, depicts what happens when a tiny Texas town is overrun by flesh-eating zombies and turns into a horrific nightmare. In a no-holds-barred attempt to flee the carnage, Cherry (Rose McGowan), a go-go dancer, and Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), her ex-lover, form a group with other survivors. A fake movie trailer for Machete, a Mexican assassin with a grudge, is included in the Grindhouse flick. Trejo reprises his role as Machete, and in a hilarious twist, the fictitious trailer served as the inspiration for the 2010 movie Machete.

5 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

When a diabolical genius dubbed Sebastian “The Toymaker” (Sylvester Stallone) creates a fictitious computer game called Game Over that hypnotizes its users, Juni (Daryl Sabara), who had retired from the OSS, is forced back into duty. The game was supposed to be disabled by Carmen (Alexa Vega), but she vanished on Level 4. Juni is dispatched after Carmen and assists her in disabling the game in order to rescue the world with the aid of his wheelchair-using maternal grandpa, Valentin Avellan (Ricardo Montalban). Trejo’s Machete makes an appearance in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over toward the climax of the movie, when he assists in combating the Toymaker’s video game robots. Machete and the Cortezes get closer after the encounter.

4 Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

Uncle Machete constructs Carmen and Juni a cutting-edge treehouse in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams after they become secret agents. Even some of Machete’s newest technology, such as the Spy Watches and the Machete Elastic Wonder, are displayed. Carmen says she can’t sing towards the conclusion of the movie, but Machete offers her a microphone that automatically tunes her voice and Juni a guitar that plays itself. Machete reveals to Carmen that he did not put any batteries in it and that she was truly singing when they were finished. This sweet scene is one of the reasons this film ranked so high on our list. It shows that Machete truly cares about his family. On Metacritic, viewers gave the movie a 6.7 out of 10 rating, which is actually rather good.

3 Machete Kills

     Open Road Films

Machete and Machete Kills are essentially telling the stories of what Isador Cortez does when he’s not helping out his spy family in the Spy Kids franchise. Machete makes a comeback in Machete Kills, where the President of the United States, Rathcock (Charlie Sheen), hires him to thwart a scheme to rule the globe. Mendez (Demián Bichir), a lunatic revolutionary plotting to missile-bomb the Congressional Palace, is originally suspected of being the culprit. Machete learns that Luther Voz (Mel Gibson), who is eager to start a rampage throughout the United States, is actually the genuine mastermind. A burned Voz flees into space with his thugs when Machete discovers him and stops him from carrying out his intentions. Machete readily offers to find him in outer space. A third Machete-led spin-off movie called Machete Kills Again in Space is promoted at the film’s conclusion, but as of this writing, the movie has not been produced, even though fans still want the sequel.

2 Machete

     20th Century Fox

In Machete, Isador Cortez sees deadly drug lord Rogelio Torrez kill his wife and daughter (Steven Seagal). He is observed working at a Texas construction job three years later. There, he receives a $150,000 payment from billionaire Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) to kill John McLaughlin, a politician who opposes illegal immigration (Robert De Niro). We discover precisely why Machete is the way he is in this fantastic Spy Kids spin-off movie. The movie provides a clear history, which is worth learning. Machete, according to Sharon Knolle of Moviefone, is the Mexican version of the fictitious British spy James Bond.

1 Spy Kids

Machete is introduced in Spy Kids in a flashback at his brother’s wedding. It appears that Gregorio and Machete frequently argue with one another. Carmen and Juni travel to see him in the hopes that he would aid them in rescuing their parents when Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming) captures their brother, Gregorio, and Gregorio’s wife, Ingrid. In spite of his refusal to assist, Machete permits his niece and nephew to stay with him and even shows them a one-passenger aircraft that may transport them to Floop’s castle. He ultimately chooses to support the Cortezes in their fight against Mr. Lisp’s army of robot kids. Both Gregorio and Machete have forgotten the origins of their quarrel. Machete then sobs while being held by his brother, both finding peace as a result of the process. This film gives us the best version of Machete and shows why he is a complex character. Spy Kids is also set to be getting a reboot from Netflix with the original creator, Robert Rodriguez, leading the project.