6 Underground (2019)
Movie · 2019 · Action, Comedy, Thriller · 2h 8m · R · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (431.4K ratings)
They say no one can save the world. Meet no one.
Overview
After faking his death, a tech billionaire recruits a team of international operatives for a bold and bloody mission to take down a brutal dictator.
Ratings
- Curator score: 0.8/10
- IMDb: 6.1/10
- Letterboxd: 2.55/5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 36%
- Metacritic: 41
- TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Michael Bay
Production
Skydance Media, Bay Films
Cast
Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco, Corey Hawkins, Lior Raz, Payman Maadi, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Kim Kold, Lídia Franco, James Murray, Lukhanyo Bele, George Kareman, James Carroll Jordan, Ron Funches, Daniel Adegboyega, Constantine Gregory, Roger Nevares
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, hyperactive, self-parodying action spectacle that some viewers will find exhilarating and others exhausting. It’s best approached as a maximalist stunt reel with jokes, not a coherent thriller.
Best for
- Michael Bay maximalism
- loud, glossy action set pieces
- fans of irreverent, bro-y ensemble capers
- viewers who enjoy style-over-logic spectacle
Skip if
- you need tight plotting or emotional depth
- rapid-fire editing gives you a headache
- you dislike crude humor and product-placement aesthetics
- collateral-damage-heavy action turns you off
Overview
6 Underground is pure Bay excess, stripped down to the director’s most recognizable instincts: speed, chrome, explosions, object fetishism, and a total disregard for restraint. It plays like a billionaire-funded vigilante fantasy that keeps escalating until the noise itself becomes the point. The movie is often ridiculous, sometimes ugly, and occasionally weirdly dazzling in the way only a truly committed blockbuster overkill machine can be.
Worth noting
What makes it divisive is also what makes it memorable. The action is relentless, the tone is smug and juvenile, and the editing is so aggressive it can feel like the film is attacking you. But if you’re in the mood for a movie that treats coherence as optional and spectacle as a moral philosophy, it has a feral energy that’s hard to ignore.
Bottom line
This is not a recommendation for anyone seeking elegance, wit, or clean storytelling. It’s for viewers who want a big-budget action movie to behave like a demolition derby with jokes, neon, and a straight face that keeps slipping into a grin. As a piece of entertainment, it’s obnoxious; as a display of cinematic appetite, it’s hard to mistake for anything else.
Top Letterboxd reviews
maria (1.5★) · 2011 likes
this movie is the answer to the ultimate question... "Can Michael Bay Become More Michael Bay Than Michael Bay Is Michael Bay?"
matt lynch (4.5★) · 1612 likes
"You ever wonder what it would be like to do the thing you were put on this Earth to do?" Exploding plastic inevitable. The greatest, tackiest, most reprehensible lizard-brain dipshit maximalist action epic in I can't even tell you forever how long. I could barely tell you what happens in it. Bay has surpassed himself. Pretty much what movies are for.
BeHaind (0.5★) · 1338 likes
10 Sekunden sind um - 32 Schnitte. Auto, grün, Closeups auf Augen, Lenkrad, Hände. Ich erkenne nichts, aber irgendwo fährt ein grüner Nissan..GANGSCHALTUNG. Jemand sagt Italien. Vier Passagiere. Ryan Reynolds schimpft. Oh...eine Einstellung, die länger als zwei Sekunden..GANGSCHALTUNG. Zwei Autos kollidieren, keine Ahnung warum. Nonnen, zeigen den Stinkefinger. Zeitlupe. Melanie Laurent wurde in den Bauch geschossen, findet sie aber gar nicht so schlimm. Einer sagt squirten! GANGSCHALTUNG Mehr Zeitlupe. Mehr Stinkefinger. Quietscheente. Jemandem fliegt IN ZEITLUPE eine Taube an den… more 10 Sekunden sind um - 32 Schnitte. Auto, grün, Closeups auf Augen, Lenkrad, Hände. Ich erkenne nichts, aber irgendwo fährt ein grüner Nissan..GANGSCHALTUNG. Jemand sagt Italien. Vier Passagiere. Ryan Reynolds schimpft. Oh...eine Einstellung, die länger als zwei Sekunden..GANGSCHALTUNG. Zwei Autos kollidieren, keine Ahnung warum. Nonnen, zeigen den Stinkefinger. Zeitlupe. Melanie Laurent wurde in den Bauch geschossen, findet sie aber gar nicht so schlimm. Einer sagt squirten! GANGSCHALTUNG Mehr Zeitlupe. Mehr Stinkefinger. Quietscheente. Jemandem fliegt IN ZEITLUPE eine Taube an den… more
Patrick Willems (3★) · 684 likes
In the opening 20-minute-long action sequence Michael Bay destroys much of Florence, Italy, has his heroes injure multiple innocent civilians, and features a bloody human eyeball (with extremely long optic nerve) as a key prop. This is pure, uncut Michael Bay, with all the good and bad that entails. (also I paid $20 to see it in a theater)
SilentDawn (5★) · 673 likes
94 Much more than 'Bayhem', which usually consists of sustained formalistic excess within wonky, poorly-paced narratives of childish escapades, casual racism, and river streams of vulgarity. This has all that, don't worry, but it's within a plot structure of a tightly wound, often unbearably breakneck adventure. This puts the pedal to the metal from frame fucking one and never, not once, lets up, even if it thinks that it's slowing down (spoiler: it's not). Bay's plasticity finally meshes with a… more
Recommended similar titles
Bad Boys II
A more openly outrageous Bay action comedy with the same love of excess, swagger, and destruction.
The Rock
Big, muscular, crowd-pleasing action with Bay’s sense of scale, momentum, and patriotic absurdity.
Armageddon
Another glossy, overcooked blockbuster that mixes melodrama, humor, and disaster-movie spectacle.
Pain & Gain
Bay’s most overtly satirical crime comedy, sharing the same vulgar energy and moral ugliness.
Crank
A frantic, joke-saturated action movie that treats pacing and chaos as the main attraction.
The A-Team
A glossy team-based action caper that leans into cartoonish set pieces and breezy irreverence.
Smokin' Aces
A chaotic, hyperactive crime-action ensemble with a similar love of noise, color, and excess.
Shoot 'Em Up
A gleefully ridiculous action film that prioritizes momentum, invention, and absurdity over realism.
Con Air
A big, shameless action ride with a similar pulp sensibility and larger-than-life villainy.
Face/Off
Operatic, ridiculous action melodrama that embraces spectacle and emotional overstatement.
Fast Five
A team-up blockbuster that turns vehicular mayhem into a slick, crowd-pleasing heist machine.
Fast & Furious 6
More globe-trotting action excess, with the same emphasis on momentum, stunts, and ensemble chemistry.
Topics
action spectacle, explosive set pieces, ensemble cast, black comedy, thriller, maximalist style, vigilante mission, collateral damage, fast editing, blockbuster excess