This piece of crap from writer-director Robert Rodriguez originated as one of the mock trailers in Grindhouse (2007), the ersatz 70s double feature he made with Quentin Tarantino, and the contrast between the two filmmakers is illuminating. Tarantino followed Grindhouse with the daring Inglourious Basterds (2009), pushing his B-movie aesthetic into new realms of cultural inquiry; Rodriguez retreats into gruesome violence and flaccid comedy, grasping feebly for topical relevance by referencing the current immigration fracas. Danny Trejo stars as an iconic Mexican federale who agrees to assassinate a demagogic Texas state senator (Robert De Niro in a new low) but then gets double-crossed by his sponsors; Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez are the ass-kicking babes, one on either side of the law; and Steven Seagal and Don Johnson are beneficiaries of the requisite irony-casting.