You can interpret the above spectacular photo of the Netflix movie 6 Underground in a number of ways. Visually your eyes are immediately drawn to it. Why is an Audi flying through the air? Are those explosions or did someone just play with fireworks? What is actually going on here? Especially the latter is a question that I regularly ask myself when I see a Michael Bay movie. A director who is able to create visually attractive images, but then pastes so many in a row that you as a viewer sometimes lose the overview. When it comes to depth storywise it’s often lacking and because of that the action often feels empty. Does Bay manage to restrain himself a bit here?
6 Underground is about a group of 6 that no longer exist officially. They are led by One (Ryan Reynolds), a billionaire who no longer believes in political solutions to social problems and takes matters into his own hands with his team to bring about change. Here they are trying to replace a dictator, who oppresses his people, with his brother, who wants to introduce democracy. A mission that is anything but easy.
What 6 Underground reminded me of was that Michael Bay saw how successful the Mission Impossible films are and decided to make his own version: You make sure you have a team of people who seem to be outside the rules, make sure there is some chemistry and then take them around the world to visit various locations so that they slowly come closer to their target. And of course there is action, a lot of action. Michael Bay action. Here, too, he fails to control himself. The opening is the perfect example of this, in which there seems to be no end to extreme chases, flying cars and bad jokes. There is some originality in the various action scenes (for example a scene in which a boat is transformed into a large magnet), but as a whole it does not come together well. The result is a film that is too long, in which the viewer is overloaded with action and in which there is no form of depth or emotional connection with the characters.
[score4]
I think I would rather be patient zero of the coronavirus and die from it than watch a second of that film.