Australian Ninja takes on Mexican wrestler
Publisher: AV Channel
Wed, 17 January 2007
by: Australian Ninja
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Funny, violent and more than a little bizarre. Put those together and you get the Mexican crime film and black comedy Matando Cabos. The name translates to something like 'Killing Cabos.' Cabos being a wealthy businessman who accidentally knocks himself out stepping on a golf ball, while trying to attack the guy who recently had sex with his daughter
He then gets kidnapped by two sets of two different men. The first two men take him out of fear or retribution, even though they did nothing to Cabos. The second set of men are the 'real' kidnappers, who planned to grab Cabos that same night. Unfortunately for them, while no one was looking the janitor entered the office and stole Mr. Cabos' clothes and exited through the underground carpark. In the dark, the second set of kidnappers mistake the janitor for the real Mr. Cabos. They stuff a bag over his head and load him into the boot.
Meanwhile the first sets of kidnappers have the actual Mr Cabos in their car boot, and decide to call an old friend for help. These opening scenes lay the foundation upon which the nights uncanny events unfold.
As luck would have it, having two men kidnapped in the one night [both of whose heads are covered and are assumed to be the same Mr Cabos] lead to events spiralling out of control and things definitely get weirder than weird as the film progresses.
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'A series of unfortunate events' describes this film rather well, the sheer number of surprises and unexpected twists thrown at the viewer keep the plot fresh and interesting. From its commencement until the demise of the film, several characters are doomed - it just remains to be seen how the events will play out.
The accidental kidnappers Jaque and Mudo call on an old friend for help; Reuben a.k.a 'Mascarita.' Reuben is a fixer, or the man to take care of things when someone is in a bind like that dude in Pulp Fiction - who is called in to deal with the bloody corpse in the back of the car.
Reuben was previously a Mexican pro-wrestler known as 'Mascarita.' The film at one point cuts away to an authentic looking documentary sequence on Mascarita. Apparently he became the "most famous wrestler of them all" but his career ended abruptly due to his indulgence in alcohol, women and drugs.
This is followed by a fantastic fantasy sequence showing Reuben in his wrestling kit fighting various people.
After the fight some strange sexy women are standing over him chanting his name, and then he gets into his car and is attacked by a snarling werewolf. The whole sequence is shown in black and white with trippy music and ends with Reuben [Mascarita] in his car realising that he is having some kind of drug related flashback / hallucination. Overall it is one of most hilarious sequences in the film.
Deciding what to do with the body, to kill Cabos and dump the body or just leave him somewhere leads to moral dilemmas. So the two kidnappers and Reuben along with his short psychotic friend Tony 'the cannibal' stop at a bar to drink away their worries and put off deciding what to do with the unconscious body.
Another thing about Reuben is that he loathes being called by his ex-wrestling name. His career ended badly and whenever someone refers to him by his career name - this otherwise calm and friendly man hulks out and kicks major ass - pro wrestling style. During the bar scene this giant of a man take on a half dozen men with ease, beating the living crap out of them, pummelling them mercilessly and destroying half the bar in the process. After the guys leave, Tony stays behind and bites off a mans finger.
At this point things are just kicking off, and I hope you have learned enough to whet your appetite.
There are a heck of a lot of surprises in this film and I really don't want to give them away or as the surprised and twists are integral to the enjoyment of the film.
At first, I really did not know what to think of the film. It was hard to say whether I was 'into' the film. Sometimes you sit passively and could care less what is happening on the screen, other times you totally lose yourself in a film and desperately want to know what will happen.
'Matando Cabos' is in the middle somewhere. Some characters, I did not really care for, while others like Reuben / Mascarita steal the show the way The Rock did as a gay country western singing bodyguard in "Be Cool."
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Overall, this film slowly grew on me from lukewarm to intriguing. It's not laugh out loud funny all the time, but there are a few ingenious belly laughs and Seinfeldesque moments. What I mean is the build up and payoff with multiple stories and characters intertwining. You can see it coming a mile away, but what makes it compelling is seeing just how things play out. The events are never quite like you expect - the film throws so many surprises at you that it stays consistently unpredictable and very entertaining right to the finish.
I recommend Matando Cabas if you like films like Pulp Fiction and Be Cool or just crime movies with witty dialogue, as this film similarly tells a bunch of small stories within a larger story, with parallel events overlapping. The film is clearly influenced by other similar crime films but maintains its own unique style without coming across as lame, or a copycat of other films.
by: Australian Ninja
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Funny and very clever. At times bizarre and disturbingly violent. Unpredictable with great plot twists. | |
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