Jean Claude Van Damme has still got it. At his age, he's kept in fantastic shape and has only gotten better at acting. For a guy who's improved so much, it would be nice if he was given better projects than 6 Bullets, a dreadfully slow, poorly edited and acted straight to DVD release who's 115 minutes feels more like 3 hours.
6 Bullets actually begins with promise, with Van Damme in a fantastically choreographed fight scene which proves to be one of the last you'll see from him in the film. There's another decent scene about 2 thirds in, but the opening with Van Damme sporting disguise facial hair is easily the best part. It's all downhill from there.
I'm not incredibly demanding of the plots of stuff like this, so a kidnap/rescue type thing is in no way bad, it can be pulled off really well, as seen in Taken with Liam Neeson. But everything about the execution and the way the kidnapping happens, coupled with how we don't see the villains or any motivating factor for the villains til much later really hurts the movie.
Speaking of hurt, one of the worst aspects of the movie is the insanely plain Joe Flanigan. Everything about this guy is bland, and he is beyond unconvincing for his role as an MMA fighter. Not only is he not in shape for the part at all, but he has these distractingly awful douchebag tattoos that are supposed to sell him as the fighter he's supposed to be, but so clearly isn't. It wouldn't be too bad if Flanigan was in the movie briefly to allow Van Damme to come in and kick some ass, but that isn't it. Oh no. Flanigan and his character's wife practically take over the movie, making you forget at parts that Van Damme is even in it, with each segment including Flanigan being gut-wrenchingly grueling.
Everything 6 Bullets really has to offer is in it's opening scene. Had the entire movie been made that way, it would've been a fun, one-off action thriller. As it stands, it's a lesson in the value of pacing in filmmaking.
6 Bullets actually begins with promise, with Van Damme in a fantastically choreographed fight scene which proves to be one of the last you'll see from him in the film. There's another decent scene about 2 thirds in, but the opening with Van Damme sporting disguise facial hair is easily the best part. It's all downhill from there.
I'm not incredibly demanding of the plots of stuff like this, so a kidnap/rescue type thing is in no way bad, it can be pulled off really well, as seen in Taken with Liam Neeson. But everything about the execution and the way the kidnapping happens, coupled with how we don't see the villains or any motivating factor for the villains til much later really hurts the movie.
Speaking of hurt, one of the worst aspects of the movie is the insanely plain Joe Flanigan. Everything about this guy is bland, and he is beyond unconvincing for his role as an MMA fighter. Not only is he not in shape for the part at all, but he has these distractingly awful douchebag tattoos that are supposed to sell him as the fighter he's supposed to be, but so clearly isn't. It wouldn't be too bad if Flanigan was in the movie briefly to allow Van Damme to come in and kick some ass, but that isn't it. Oh no. Flanigan and his character's wife practically take over the movie, making you forget at parts that Van Damme is even in it, with each segment including Flanigan being gut-wrenchingly grueling.
Everything 6 Bullets really has to offer is in it's opening scene. Had the entire movie been made that way, it would've been a fun, one-off action thriller. As it stands, it's a lesson in the value of pacing in filmmaking.