6 Underground

This film is what you get if you put Michael Bay and Ryan Reynolds together and then turn the dial up to eleven.  Loud, nonsensical, bombastic and clichéd … it’s also quite a lot of fun if you embrace its ridiculousness, in a “so bad, it’s good” kind of way.

Premise:  After faking his own death, a mysterious billionaire (Ryan Reynolds) puts together an elite secret vigilante team, recruiting a spy (Mélanie Laurent), a hitman (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a sniper (Corey Hawkins), a driver (Dave Franco), a doctor (Adria Arjona) and a thief (Ben Hardy), in order to topple a brutal dictator that the governments of the world won’t touch.

Review:

Michael Bay is a bit of a love-him-or-hate-him director, with as many stinkers (like Transformers 4 & 5 and Pearl Harbour) as triumphs (like Bad Boys, The Rock and Pain & Gain).  6 Underground falls somewhere in the middle, insofar as it’s objectively not very good, but it seems to be knowingly over-the-top and cheesy, in such a way that it’s actually a fairly enjoyable (if totally forgettable) ride if you just surrender yourself to the “Bayhem”.

6 Underground is arguable the most “Michael Bay” film that Michael Bay has ever made, as it’s bursting at the seams with all of his usual trademarks – fast cuts, big explosions, speeding supercars, casual violence, and action scenes set almost exclusively during the “golden hour” before sunset.  This film is also written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers of the Deadpool and Zombieland films, and so the entire tone of the film is just on the cusp of parody, with the sense that no one involved is taking it too seriously.

“…knowingly over-the-top & cheesy…”

The film’s tone plays to Ryan Reynold’s strengths, allowing him to unleash an endless string of quips during ever escalating action sequences.  Occasionally, the film’s tone struggles to find a balance between the flippant humour and the allegedly serious subject matter, but the end result is more like an updated version of The A-Team – complete with cartoonish, cardboard cut-out baddies and endless supplies of bullets and henchmen – than it is a serious action thriller addressing geopolitical issues in a considered manner.

The members of the team are a mixed bunch, and in fairness, none of the characters are particularly fleshed out.  Aside from Reynolds, Corey Hawkins perhaps has the most to do as the team’s newest recruit, while Mélanie Laurent and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo arguably get most of the comedic moments after Reynolds.  But all the characters are essentially caricatures more than three-dimensional people, and unless I blinked and missed it, I’m pretty sure one of the characters didn’t even get a flashback to explain their origin story?

“…there’s a sense that everyone involved is having a good time & not taking themselves too seriously…”

Objectively speaking, 6 Underground is not a “good” film.  The plot is just an excuse for a series of grandiose action sequences, any attempts to deal with dramatic or serious moments are clumsy and heavy-handed, the dialogue is beyond clichéd, and even the constant stream of one-liners eventually wears thin.  And yet … I did enjoy it.  There’s a sense that everyone involved is having a good time, and not taking themselves too seriously.  The action scenes are incredibly over-the-top, but they are visually engaging and drew me in, especially the opening car chase through Florence.  And the one-liners did bring a smile to my face throughout.  You may know that 6 Underground is not a “good” film, in the same way you know that junk food is not good for you … but sometimes, it does scratch the itch that you’ve got.