Micheal Bay films can be very hit-and-miss, and when you factor in his almost seizure-inducing editing style you know the film is going to have a certain look and pacing, To be fair, there are Bay films I do enjoy, but unfortunately even with Ryan Reynolds exuding as much charm and humour as he can, 6 Underground is a middling Bay film at best.

One (Reynolds) is a billionaire who has faked his own death (who does he get to keep his money and contacts?) who then works off-the-grid to do some good in the world by eliminating tyrannical forces, and in this case, he and his numerical team are going to a Middle Eastern country to remove a dictatorial despot and replace him with his democracy loving brother.

It’s like lobbying taken to a violent extreme and also suggests a slippery slope. If a person doesn’t like the government, just go in and assassinate its leader and replace them. Sure, in this film it makes sense, that the villain is truly evil, but then it’s just a sliding scale of what the person sees as evil.

With a former CIA Spook, Two (Melanie Laurent), a hitman, Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a parkour expert, Four (Ben Hardy), a doctor, Five (Adria Arjona) and a new PTSD haunted sniper and transporter, Seven (Corey Hawkins), One outlines a plan to eliminate Rovach (Lior Raz) and replace him with Murat (Payman Maadi). Yay freedom.

Of course, the majority of that is framing devices for action set pieces, Reynolds delivering some comedic gold, and lots of rapid cuts, pans, and explosions. The body count is high, with some occasionally gratuitously brutal moments that no doubt delighted action fans, but the story is paper thin, and the ideas suggested behind it are problematic.

There is absolutely too much red tape in the world, as One points out, and I am all for helping out my fellow human. I’m a big believer in it, how else are we going to move forward as a species? But I’m not sure this is the way to go.

I get it. It’s a movie. It’s meant to entertain, and on the whole, it does (it’s a very fun cast), in a disposable bag of popcorn kind of way, but the questions it raises when you actually think about it, leave a bad aftertaste.

I guess for now, I’ll go back to my Michael Bay standards, The Rock, and Bad Boys I & 2, and then see what he comes up with next.