Michael Bay is a name often associated with the word “explosions,” and every movie that he’s made has featured plenty of those big booms. I do enjoy the occasional action flick but, when watching a Michael Bay movie, you’re assaulted by all the action, quick editing, and explosions and his newest film 6 Underground has all that and then some. While Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) is the lead actor in this romp, his charm and wit aren’t enough to save this debacle of film that robbed me of any enjoyment.
The movie involves a rich billionaire (Ryan Reynolds) who fakes his own death and starts his own vigilante squad that recruits other such individuals who’ve faked their own death. These involve criminals, Government operatives, drivers, a hitman and even a doctor. They all follow his orders and, as a group, answer to no one. Their names are never revealed to each other, only calling themselves by number. Their mission is to take down the Dictator of Turgistan and overthrown his regime. Think of the video game Just Cause- including all of the explosions you can cause- and that’s exactly what this movie is, minus the Government’s assistance. The six travel to Turgistan, Las Vegas and even Abu Dhabi but, while everything looks great visually, the story didn’t interest me at all.
One (Reynolds) made his fortune by designing these unique magnets used by companies all over the world and can even utilize them as a weapon. There is one cool moment in the film where he uses this weapon to literally throw the bad guys from one side of a yacht to another. This sequence reminded me of a similar thing that happened in Transformers Age of Extinction. It’s a cool moment in an otherwise boring movie.
Now, with all the action and explosions that occur, why would this movie be boring? Well, the story isn’t that interesting and the supporting cast aren’t that fun to watch. Sure, Reynolds is a lot of fun to see on screen and, more or less, portrays his character like Deadpool but without the extreme sexual jokes that Deadpool fancies. The movie also go back and forth in its timeline to further explain all that’s happening to the audience. Personally, I can’t stand movies that open with an action sequence where nothing is introduced or explained. For me, it’s just mindless action and noise and I lose interest pretty quickly with that.
Michael Bay is a guilty pleasure director of mine and I’m not ashamed to admit that. I like three of his movies and rather enjoy the repetitive camera angles he uses. I don’t mind the close-up shots or the moving camera angles whether in a close-up or an establishing shot. It’s his style and it’s grown on me, but as a director, his movies are more focused on action instead of giving us a coherent plot. Seriously, two hours after finishing this movie, I could hardly tell my friends what I had just watched. I could hardly explain the plot or all that happened. It was just two hours of me sitting there and nothing happened that really caught my eye. A complete dead zone.
Verdict 1 out of 5
6 Underground has potential but, with its “all-over-the-place” script, it’s hard to follow the movie at all. Ryan Reynolds is a lot of fun to watch but even he can’t save this movie and the supporting cast are just put there to look cool and kick ass. There isn’t much room for the audience to get involved because the movie doesn’t allow them to become interested. It boils down to a film that once again features explosions, car chases, gunfights, fistfights and a plot that makes no sense when you actually take a moment to look away from all the action eye-candy on display.
That’s all 6 Underground is: a firework display that looks cool but feels empty. Plus, the title is rather lackluster and doesn’t expel any excitement or thrills.
Leave a Comment