It’s become common for directors who have made a movie with Netflix to wax lyrical about the near total freedom that’s given to them. While that autonomy can mean we get films like The Irishman from Martin Scorsese, it can also lead to films like Michael Bay’s 6 Underground which, with a rumoured budget of $150 million, is on a par with 2017’s Netflix tentpole Bright. The latter defied the negative reviews and became a massive hit, and the streaming giant will be hoping that their latest expensive gamble pulls off something similar. For this is Bayhem in its purest form, and that’s for the worse instead of the better.
The mercs against the world plot (such as there is one), which is explained over and over and over again despite a lengthy opening car-chase sequence and flashbacks designed to catch us up, is laden with potential. If this were a better movie you could easily see it being the start of a franchise, but the problems start early and pile up almost as quickly as the John Wick-esque body count.
This is Michael Bay at his most irresponsible and gory.
There’s something to be said for the fact that Bay is such a distinctive auteur that you need only watch the first five minutes of 6 Underground — which has some impressive vehicular moments to boot — to know exactly who’s behind the camera. It’s just frustrating that that unique visual style goes hand in hand with other elements that are now part and parcel of the Bay experience. From the incoherent editing to the objectification of women to the over-excessive and nasty violence, which is at times perpetrated by the characters we’re meant to be rooting for, this is Bay at his most irresponsible and gory.
As for the people in front of the camera, it should be no surprise that Reynolds — who is working from a screenplay penned by Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick — gets all the best lines, and he remains fun to watch even though we don’t learn much about his character as the movie progresses. The rest of One’s team fare less well, falling somewhere between the bare minimum of characterisation and, in the case of Adria Arjona’s ‘Five’, absolutely nothing at all. Thankfully, Corey Hawkins infuses his sniper with decency that the movie sorely needs, and Mélanie Laurent seems to know exactly what movie she’s in and acts accordingly.
Ultimately, though, 6 Underground will have you asking a ton of questions about many of its bizarre choices, including but not limited to: Why replace the driver on your team with a sniper? Why are the team taking orders from the billionaire even though he’s clearly the worst leader of all time? The film is less concerned with answering these than it is in plunging you into the next heavily stylised action sequence. Such is the Bay way.
