I admit, I never thought I’d see Salma Hayek throw a grenade into an elevator full of murderous Yakuza, but I’m quickly learning that if you live long enough, you see just about everything. And today I saw Salma Hayek throw a grenade into an elevator full of murderous Yakuza, followed by gallons of blood pouring out from between the doors. Of course, this didn’t actually happen, but the image is real and I have a feeling my thoughts about Salma Hayek will never be quite the same.
The scene in question, rather than the unfortunate conclusion to a rowdy TriBeCa holiday party, is actually from the curvaceous jarocha’s latest film, Everly. While this may seem like a radical departure for an actress whose recent credits include Grown Ups and Spy Kids 3-D, let us not forget that Ms. Hayek actually cut her teeth on Robert Rodriguez’ early, bloody films Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, although she wasn’t usually the one handling the weapons. In Everly, however, it seems that’s about all she does.
While the plot has some necessary backstory about betrayals and ex-boyfriends, the movie is really about Hayek’s eponymous character killing wave after wave after wave after wave of people who are, incidentally, intent on killing her. And it takes place over one night. Oh and there’s a guy apparently bleeding to death on the couch that spends the movie commenting on the evening’s events.
Everly, of course, appears to be unapologetic grindhouse fare (think Kill Bill with less plot), so if you are looking for an exercise in stylized violence with seemingly little in the way of self-reflection — or if you just want to see Salma Hayek handle a diverse array of manual and automatic weapons, along with a possible sai blade or two — by all means, this is the movie for you. The more squeamish amongst us, however, might wan’t to sit this one out and wait for the next installment of the Grown Ups franchise.
Everly will be available on iTunes on January 23 opens in theaters on February 27, 2015.