People just don't get it apparently.

I agree. The first one was a good spoof/homage of exploitation movies. This one seemed to be parodying the parody, which rarely works.

The "Machete don't xxxxx" joke was funny the first time but it got old fast. The sci-fi/spy elements were cheesy, as if Robert wanted to make a James Bond parody but decided to use his ideas in Machete. It felt like those Scary Movie sequels where they start parodying a bunch of non-horror movies for the sake of cheap laughs.

I agree with you. yeah, it just doesn't have the punch, verve, balls, spirit, or charm of the first film. it's not powerful at all like the first film. the tone is the biggest problem as it has a light, comedic tone as opposed to the hardcore, serious, bare fisted, exploitative, explicit, dirty tone of the first machete. and, that's what made the first machete so good, it's take no prisoners, anything goes, unapologetic, kinetic feel. that vibe is not anywhere in this movie and that's why this movie sucks in comparison. also machete has a we'll show anything vibe in it which is awesome. I'm talking about the hardcore action, violence, and nudity. gosh I even saw pussy, dude, pussy, now that's daring! I'm talking about the scorchingly hot Hispanic woman who is nude and who is picked up carried by machete. this movie has NO female nudity, NO female nudity, what the f. Has Robert Rodriguez lost it. has he lost his sense and understanding of how to make a good movie? showing hardcore nudity, and hardcore violence and action is what gives an action movie balls, this movie doesn't have balls, which the first machete has in spades. and, while the first machete is silly in parts, the silliness felt okay, and appropriate and fitting for the movie, it didn't feel dumb, whereas the silliness in this movie feels mostly dumb. some of the silly stuff works, but not enough of it. and, the key thing about the first film is it wasn't that silly, only a small part of it was silly. so it mostly has a serious, hardcore '80s action film feel. whereas this movie is totally silly, it just doesn't work anywhere near as well as the first machete. if the funny lines and parts worked then this movie would've been better, but as they are this movie just isn't that good. what do you think of all this?

Ask most people and they haven't even heard of this. I understand it's a targeted group who watch, me also, but the movie just wasn't entertaining. RR makes his money, I like him, he just needs to try a new topic now.

Grindhouse was a genre of films that were never popular when they were in their prime. These films have always played at second string theatres and were swept under the rug when done.
Why would anyone expect it to be a huge hit these days beyond audiences who view it for nostalgia?

Grindhouse had a 60million+ budget. That's outrageous when considering Roger Corman was making the exact same movies for 100grand.