It seems like everyone is releasing movies straight to streaming now and by-passing the traditional theatrical release, or at least just issuing a limited one. But if it was good enough for Martin Scorsese, it should be good enough for Michael Bay.
Hold on. That sounds very wrong.
Anyway, Netflix released Bay’s 6 Underground which may be the most Michael Bay movie ever made.
Ryan Reynolds stars as One, a tech billionaire who faked his own death, assembled a team of experts in their respective fields, convinced them in turn to fake their own deaths, and now goes out on dangerous missions to eliminate really bad people from the world. It would be like if Elon Musk decided he wanted to be Batman for real but didn’t mind lethal force.
And that really is the premise for the movie, and about as deep as it gets. Reynolds’ character never gives a real name as he assigned numbers for the different members of his team that includes, initially, a CIA spy, a hitman, a parkour enthusiast, a getaway driver, and a doctor. Said driver is played by Dave Franco, but I wouldn’t get too attached to him because the real sixth member is the latest recruit, a disgruntled Army sniper. For their first and perhaps only mission, they decide to topple the dictator of the fictional country of Turgistan, a guy who regularly gases his own people from the looks of things, and replace him with his democracy-loving brother.
Because, you know, it really is that easy to bring peace and stability to a Middle Eastern country.
6 Underground really is the most Bay of Bay movies. Think of some aspect to Bay’s movies, and it’s here. A yellowish look to everything? Yup. Women who seem to exist mostly to shoot guns and look good? Oh yeah. Men who are more like overgrown children? Check. A constantly moving camera and lots of explosions? Yes. Fetishization of the military? Uh-huh. Lots of blood and violence? Obviously.
So, really, the only thing that sets this movie apart from, oh, every other movie Bay has ever directed is Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds has a lot of charm in just about everything he does, and his general onscreen persona would fit the maturity level of a Michael Bay protagonist. But even he can only do so much, and this movie is just really more forgettable than anything else.
Because if it is the most Bay of Bay movies, there’s nothing to really set it apart from the rest of his work, leaving behind only something that is loud, simplistic, and superficial.
Grade: C-
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