Anyways, plot! Go! So, the story starts with Willy, a.k.a. Casper (Edgar Flores) who is part of a Mexican gang called Mara Salvatrucha. He recruits his friend (much younger friend) Benito, or later referred to as Smiley (Kristian Ferrer), to become part of the gang. He tells Smiley to just sit tight while he goes and meets up with his girlfriend, who he is hiding from the gang, Martha Marlene (Diana Garcia). With a name like that I feel like she should be part of a cult.
Meanwhile in Honduras, Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) is reunited with her dad after many years. He has been living in the United States with his other family and has come back to sneak her and her uncle across the border. After much convincing, she finally agrees to go along and they travel to Mexico to begin there journey. The sneak on top of a train that will take them all the way through Mexico, but the journey isn't as easy as it seems.
Casper has been getting grief from the higher ups in his gang because they know he has been lying about where he has been spending all his time. And Martha Marlene, sick of being hidden, decides to follow him to his gang and surprise him. The head of the gang, Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta Mejia), is not pleased. He orders the gang to beat Casper up while he goes and "escorts" her out. However, Martha Marlene doesn't appreciate his "escort" and fights back. He pushes her and she hits her head on a stone and ends up dead Lil Mago decides to take the heartbroken Casper and Smiley on a special mission. They too sneak on top of the train and start robbing people of their money. When Lil Mago happens upon Sayra he decides she is too pretty to be ignored and starts giving her "special treatment" (if you can't tell the " " statements mean something else). Casper can't bear to see him hurt another girl, so he slices Lil Mago's throat with a machete and throws him off the train. He then tells Smiley to get off the train.
Smiley goes back to the gang and they put out a death sentence for him because they have connections all throughout Mexico. But, here's the kicker, when they find him, Smiley has to be the one to pull the trigger ending Casper's life. On the train, Casper is in shock and sits by himself, not talking or eating. Sayra befriends him first giving him food, but then letting him join her family. One night when they are sleeping. Casper sneaks off the train, afraid he might cause more trouble for the family. What he didn't realize is that Sayra followed him. So now it's the two of them, running of the gang members after Casper and trying to cross the U.S. border.
I just have to get one thing off my chest. Martha Marlene is sooooooo dumb. All the gang members have tattoos (some are so extreme they look like they are part of some indigenous tribe in the Amazon), and Casper is no exception with his signature tear drop tattoo. Ummm wake up girl! Isn't that a symbol for this guy isn't perfect? She gets all pissy because he won't tell her what he does during the day, probably because he was trying to protect her. And then one time they do run into another gang member and Casper gets all weird and refers to her as just a friend. Well, that pisses her off so that is why she decides to follow him to a gang meeting. Bitch is soo dumb.
Otherwsie I enjoyed this movie. It's more than just a gang movie. It's a gang movie, immigration tale, with a drawn out chase, and maybe just maybe a little bit of romance? Well, at least friendship between two unlikely people. At times it's suspenseful and you keep wondering what is going to happen next. Other times it's heartbreaking seeing this young boy go through such trials. You will definitely have your favorites you cheer for, and despise the ones you feel cross you (by you I mean the character). The story pulls you in from the beginning and leaves you intrigued about where it is headed. Definitely worth a watch.
Rating: ****
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