Anyone familiar with the Bad Boys or the Transformers franchises need only watch about five minutes of this one to recognize it as a Bay film.
This one is no different; it has a makeshift family, high-speed car chases and an elaborate heist. Netflix’s action blockbuster 6 Underground is solid proof that Michael Bay would love to direct a Mission Impossible or Fast and Furious film. It also makes it clear why that would be a bad idea.
1. Article summary
The film has requisite shots of beautiful women, hyper-kinetic cuts to pop/rock tunes, and jokes that even the writers would probably say are in bad taste. Nary a thing that resembles human emotion or the actual physics of the real world exists in it.
For a while, especially during an extended car chase through Florence in the film’s lengthy opening, the Bay-ness of it all is kind of engaging. Sadly, like the ragtag group at the center of the film learns, even the best plans can be hard to follow.
2. Is it worth watching?
Un-apologetically R-rated, 6 Underground is probably the most action-packed of his non-Transformers movies. People complain about The Irishman’s three-and-a-half-hour runtime. Or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s aimlessness and unnecessary extravagances. However, they haven’t witnessed a creative flex more obnoxious than Michael Bay, opening his two-hour film with a 20-minute chase sequence that feels like an eternity.
Beginning with the unbearable opening car chase, Bay somehow films from underneath the soles of Ryan Reynolds’ shoes, atop Ben Hardy’s head, and literally centimeters from Melanie Laurent’s bare skin. High on the thrill of knowing that he could do it, this film makes it clear that Bay never stopped and wondered if he should.
I. Plot
6 Underground is about an eclectic billionaire (Ryan Reynolds) who has faked his own death to go underground. He does so to lead a team of similar mercenaries, people who are able to go off the grid to do the jobs that global governments refuse to do. In a film that’s clearly designed to be the start of a franchise, their job is nothing less than a military coup. Their newest mission? Deposing the vicious leader of the fictional country of Turgistan and replacing him with his more peaceful brother.
The team is known solely by their numbers (Reynolds, of course, is #1). The film also includes a deadly CIA spook (played by Melanie Laurent), a wisecrack hitman (played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a sky-jumping kid who is introduced running down the outside of the Duomo (played by Ben Hardy), a former sniper battling PTSD (played by Corey Hawkins) and a woman with exceptionally little character development (played by Adria Arjona) make up its cast. The brilliant Iranian actor Payman Maadi, from the fame of A Separation, plays the brother who the team has to exfiltrate and place in power.
II. Music and visuals
Prominent film score composer Lorne Balfe is the film’s music director. He has previously worked with Michael Bay in 13 Hours. Milan Records released the film soundtrack on December 13, 2019. Popular songs Only One by Reem, Dig Down by Muse, Glory by The Score, and a whole lot of songs by Tony K make up the soundtrack of this film. They are available to stream on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
There are several stunning visuals, albeit long drawn out, in the film. Bay kicks it off with a riotously over-the-top car chase scene in Florence. It somehow appears to pay homage to The Italian Job, featuring cars that appear to go through the Uffizi itself. Number Four gives us some tasty parkour stunts atop the sacred Duomo.
The film is filled with an avalanche of luxury locations, deafening explosions, and droll tagline gags. They all culminate in a bizarrely surreal scene aboard a huge yacht, in which Number One brings out his secret weapon – a hyper-strength magnet.
3. Final thoughts
The trope of cis-het able-bodied privileged white people coming to the “rescue” of the brown-skinned is a trope as exhausted as I am. 6 Underground handles Middle Eastern politics with all the grace of a runaway truck. The scenes in the fictitious country Turgistan are poorly executed at best and offensively exploitative at worst. That includes the modeling Turgistan to be a cross between Syria and Abu Dhabi, and a scene at the end of the film meant to be a reflection of the Arab Spring.
Bearing in mind that the film is releasing at a time when the system of democracy is being questioned, 6 Underground does no favors to itself to be even remotely politically correct. The plot itself is ridiculously irresponsible; their goal is to install Murat to be a (democratic) presidential alternative in Turgistan. They swoop in and conduct a coup, after which they make Murat the sole elective to the seat. Pats on the back to the six for saving the day.
So much for democracy.
4. Grade
Story: F
Cinematography/Animation: B
Acting: C-
Music: B
Direction: F
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