Sofia Vergara's bra racks up 'Machete Kills' body count

Well, finally, a Hollywood movie that bends over backwards to give big gun supporters a fair shake.

Yes, that's Sofía Vergara who – as Lady Desdemona, a femme fatale in Machete Kills – straps herself into a weaponized wardrobe that lifts, separates and mows down rivals.

It's all from the impact-splatter imagination of Robert Rodriguez, the filmmaker who alternates between bloody (Sin City, El Mariachi) and fizzy (four Spy Kids films, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl) without aesthetic shift or ethical distress. The Texas father of five says he rarely feels the heat from critics of violence in film because the hyper-reality and loopy irony of his films puts them spiritually closer to a Road Runner cartoon than a Taxi Driver remake. For the record, he also thinks the recent debate about on-screen gun control is off target. "To lay the problems of gun violence on movies diminishes the importance of the real issues."

You could say that the affable Rodriguez has toned it down a bit — the last time he presented a female character with assault anatomy she lost a fictional limb in the process. In 2007's Planet Terror, go-go dancer Cherry Darling (played by one-time fiancee Rose McGowan) was armed with a leg — a giant machine gun was affixed to the stump of her amputated right leg.

The sequel to Machete (2010) again revisits the title character, Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo) a dangerous, hard-luck anti-hero. This time the U.S. government (led by Charlie Sheen in the Oval Office) recruits Machete to battle his way through his native Mexico to topple an arms dealer who wants to rain destruction on the U.S. with a orbital weapon.

The cast also includes Mel Gibson, Vanessa Hudgens, Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, and Lady Gaga, who knows a thing or two about undergarment firepower. That group as a whole may have more TMZ heat than IMDB glow, but it's all in good fun, says Rodriguez. He especially admired Vergara's zeal. "It was a whirlwind. She was willing to do anything and everything. She became this character. It was great fun for everybody."