When Ryan Reynolds is not busy engaging in friendly banter on Twitter with his wife, Blake Lively, he is busy building his acting resume that boasts of hits such as Deadpool, Buried, R.I.P.D and more, as well as box-office failures, including Green Lantern.
Reynolds, who loves having a good laugh at himself, is endearing and funny with a massive fan following who usually watch all his films diligently. Even then, there are certain releases that cannot induce a positive reaction even from his most loyal fans. 6 Underground is definitely one such film!
No matter how elaborate and stellar the ensemble cast is or how expensive the budget might seem, a movie cannot be salvaged if the narrative is weak and the execution lacking. In the last few years, the 2019 Netflix Original 6 Underground, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing Netflix Originals for all the wrong reasons, was Reynolds’ biggest film but turned out to be an utter let-down.
In a promotional video, the goofy actor described 6 Underground in a hilarious manner and urged the audience to “not miss the most Michael Bay movie that Michael Bay has ever Michael Bayed”! And that was where the problem all began, the film was just too Micheal Bay!
With a whopping $150 million budget and directed by Michael Bay, the film focused on Reynolds as a billionaire who allegedly dies, only to form a secret vigilante crew comprising the likes of actors such as Melanie Laurent, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, to defeat criminals and terrorists. Sounds interesting, right?
The film was criticised by fans and had an unbelievably low score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was overpacked with unnecessary action sequences and seemed too silly and childish, described by Wenlei Mai as a “brainless, bombastic and seizure-inducing fare”.
Netflix’s Film Chief, Scott Stuber, expressed his grimace over the film. He emphasised the importance of producing original content that was “more culturally relevant” to be put “in the zeitgeist”. About 6 Underground, the Chief could not hold back his disgruntlement as he told Variety that there would be no sequel.
“We didn’t feel like we got there on that one creatively. It was a nice hit, but at the end of the day, we didn’t feel like we nailed the mark to justify coming back again. There just wasn’t that deep love for those characters or that world,” said he.
Although Netflix had never said anything about a sequel, given the massive viewership as well as how it trended for days on Twitter, one would probably imagine the revenue being a driving force for the streaming giant to produce a little more Michael Bay. Thankfully, not!
