Expanding on the fake trailer from 2007’s “Grindhouse” diptych, Robert Rodriguez’s latest film is all it promised to be: a high-octane, brash and often hilarious movie. Danny Trejo finally gets a starring role as the eponymous Machete, a tough-as-nails ex-Federale out for revenge after being set up by right-wing Senator McLoughlin (Robert DeNiro) and his assistant Booth (Keith Fahey).

The first five minutes set the scene perfectly: Trejo plows into a house wielding a Machete, chops off various body parts in a sea of hemoglobin, rescues a naked girl who then betrays him (and wins a prize for most inventive hiding place for a mobile phone), has his wife decapitated before his very eyes, and somehow survives a flamethrower attack.

As to be expected from a “Mexploitation” movie, the action set-pieces have to be seen to be believed. Over-the-top violence and nudity is the norm here. More surprising was the direct attack on the recent Arizona immigration laws, although the film is too derivative and caricatural to put forward a strong political argument. This is not a “thinker’s movie,” and conservative fears of a “race war” over this film are vastly exaggerated.

“Machete” is far from perfect: some casting choices do not come off (Steven Seagal as a Mexican drug Lord?), the dialogue veers from intentionally bad one-liners to the just-plain-awful, Rodriguez’s women characters are still one-dimensional and the plot is paper-thin, but ultimately Machete is an exhilarating roller-coaster ride to be enjoyed without moderation. Go see it. You’ll probably still be laughing about it a month from now.