Over the course of twenty-five(ish) years of filmmaking, Michael Bay has established a style so distinctive, it even has its own name: “Bayhem”. It’s the scripts he draws from, however, that set Bay’s work apart and distinguish his enjoyably ridiculous movies from the merely ridiculous ones. For that reason, people have been hopeful about this week’s 6 Underground, a Netflix exclusive that pairs Bay with Zombieland and Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Unfortunately, that combination is better on paper than in action. 6 Underground’s intriguing setup and awe-inducing stunts are gradually overwhelmed by the commotion of Bay’s direction, the further along it goes.

Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, stars in 6 Underground as “One”, a mysterious tech-genius billionaire who fakes his death in order to assemble a crack-team of vigilantes - all of whom, likewise, fake their deaths - and take down the worst criminals in the world. With a squad that includes a former CIA spook (Mélanie Laurent), a hitman (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a parkour expert or “Skywalker” (Ben Hardy), a doctor (Adria Arjona), and an ex-sniper (Corey Hawkins) at his disposal, “One” sets his sights on Rovach Alimov (Lior Raz), a cruel dictator who rules the country Turgistan with an iron fist, and plots to replace him with his democracy-loving brother, Murat (Payman Maadi). But as it turns out, saving the world is pretty dang difficult, even when you’re already “dead”.

6 Underground actually starts with a bang in the form of an extended car chase through Italy that effectively sets the tone for the film, bringing Bay back to the style of his pre-Transformers movies. It’s particularly reminiscent of Bad Boys II in the way this sequence combines quippy dialogue with well-executed explosions, comical violence, and stylistic flourishes (specifically, slow-motion), all while causing cringe-worthy amounts of collateral damage to the lovely city surroundings. But as impressively staged as it and even set pieces to come are, Bay’s trademark frantic editing (which is credited to three different people) robs it of its impact, rendering the spectacle into an increasingly chaotic mess. Obviously, everyone knows to expect hectic action scenes from Bay action films, but 6 Underground is noticeably rougher around the edges in its construction than his best offerings to date. It’s a shame too, considering some of the amazing practical stunt-work at play.

Not helping matters, 6 Underground hops back and forth in time for a healthy chunk of its first half, rapidly filling in characters’ backstories and moving the story forward along the way. It’s quite similar to Reese and Wernick’s approach on the original Deadpool (which had an equally flashback-heavy first act), yet the results here are much less coherent and muddle its narrative more than anything else. Things only get messier in the film’s second half, as its focus shifts to “One” and his crew’s attempt to overthrow Rovach by leading a coup in his (fictional) country. No surprise, this attempt to address Middle-Eastern politics through the lens of a Michael Bay action-thriller comes across as exploitative at worst and just confusing at best, offering little in the way of catharsis and promoting an almost fascistic ideology (where all the world needs to be saved is a rich guy who can do whatever he wants) in the process. Yes, of course, no one expects Bay’s movies to be thoughtful about their messaging, but 6 Underground’s outlook is bafflingly backwards, even by his standards.

Buried beneath its excesses, 6 Underground has a clever heist-like storyline that resembles (and, in the third act, blatantly rips off) Inception, in the way it follows a group of highly-skilled individuals who trot around the globe and use advanced tech to not only pull off their jobs, but also cover their tracks. The film’s charismatic cast is similarly well-matched to their respective roles, and the scenes where they’re verbally playing off one another bring to mind the breezy pleasures of other team-up adventure like Ocean’s Eleven (a movie that’s even referenced in all but name at one point). Sorry to say, though, even an ensemble as talented as 6 Underground’s are unable to elevate the film’s uneven combination of vulgar humor and heavy sentimentality (not to mention, Bay’s leering camerawork whenever a woman is onscreen), both during and in-between its many action scenes. Reese and Wernick made their name writing films that blend wild action, raunchy comedy, and heart, but add Bay to the equation and it seems to throw their whole formula off.

Like most original big-budget projects nowadays, 6 Underground is positioned to serve as the beginning of a potential franchise. It’s not a bad idea, honestly; with a more tasteful story and a little less “Bayhem”, a sequel could take advantage of the elements that work in the first movie (like the cast’s chemistry and its terrific stunts) and deliver an experience that’s still bombastic, but more cohesively and entertainingly so. And with 6 Underground being available to stream at home, those who would’ve skipped on watching it in theaters are more likely to give it a shot now. Whether they will actually like what they see enough to want more, well, you’ll have to ask the Netflix algorithm about that one.

6 Underground is now streaming on Netflix. It is 127 minutes long and is rated R for strong violence and language throughout, bloody images and some sexual content.

  • 6 Underground Release Date: 2019-12-13