Six Bullets

Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in another above-par DTV outing, and proves that he's still relevant (at least more relevant than Steven Seagal). There's nothing too special about the story, seeing as it's been done before in various forms (e.g., TAKEN). Even the cinematography isn't too unique, and has a washed-out palette that is all-too-common in these types of movies. But unlike TAKEN, this movie actually takes the time to develop its characters and give you reason to care about them. In other words, it's not all ass-kicking and one-liners (and in fact, there really isn't any humor). The run time is a little overlong (by about 15-20 minutes), but it's spent with characters you can identify with and a story that has some dramatic impact. Definitely for JCVD fans, but also for anyone looking to branch out beyond the middling action fare that Hollywood churns out nowadays.

Hot off the heels of his great villainous turn in the Expendables 2, Jean Claude Van Damme delivers another straight to video action film 6 Bullets. Over the years some of his films seem to have gotten a bit better in both acting and quality. He still has a lot that get international theatrical release, but still end up on the video shelf here. Will 6 Bullets keep his streak alive after E2 has brought him back to theatrical prominence?

6 Bullets follows an ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped, but is still struggling with a failed assignment. For the most part this isn't one of his better films, but is a decent addition to his filmography. There is plenty of action that's pretty simple and only averagely executed, but mostly loses some of its effectiveness due to bad editing. Where this film lacks on some of the expected action, Van Damme delivers another character with a wide range of emotions. While still nowhere near the performance of JCVD, he really carries the film well giving the character more depth than his normal bad ass persona. The supporting cast including Stargate: Atlantis star Joe Flanigan and both Van Damme's son and daughter all do a decent job with what they are working with. The story is simple, but does add some clever twists here and there to give it a bit of an edge you may not expect. The foreign setting really helps this movie both visually and size to give it a bigger feel than it may have had being shot here in the US.

While this wasn't a great movie, it still delivers enough of a kick to entertain the hard core Van Damme fans out there. Over time Van Damme, much like the other action stars of E2 has seemed to really embrace his age and seems to have enhanced his performances a bit more. Worse case, this film will serve as good filler while fans eagerly wait for his next film Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

To my surprise, this is playing on Google Play for only 3.99 so I rushed to watch it...twice for that matter. I rather enjoyed it. I'd rank it pretty much on the same level as AG. Both movies were on the cusp of making the leap from being "good" to being "damn good". The script in AG is a bit stronger but JC does a much better job in 6B. He is in fantastic shape and doesn't sleepwalk at all through his performance. He looks and performs the best he has in years. The action is pretty well done and there is a good amount of it. Like AG, Ernie gives us a really cool opening intro to the movie! For the most part, 6B is shot really well, considering the budget. Acting wise, I thought everyone was above average for a DTV...with the exception of Bianca(JC's real daughter). Even though she isn't in it that much, I thought her line delivery was just awful. Kris(JC's real son), however, is better than usual. He still has a lot to learn but he didn't stink up the place like usual. Flannigan was good and I liked seeing him in something other than Stargate. Neal Acree turned out another good music score, although, a lot of it may be a little too piano heavy which kind of kills the tone in a few scenes. It sometimes added a "made for TV" vibe. Overall though, this is another good step for Ernie and definitely one of JC's best DTV's. I'll probably watch it one more time before it expires. 3.25/5

Unlike the pathetic Steven Seagal, JCVD's recently movies all turned out to be quite good, and this 6 Bullets is no exception. I have no problem to give this movie a 6/10 rating, could even give it a higher one, if these flaws were not so obviously serious:

1) Usually, a guy so well-experienced like JCVD played, the first thing when he infiltrated the enemy compound was to neutralize the CCTV system. But the guy simply overlooked it to accommodate the scenario. 2) The 14-year girl's finger was cut off, but she didn't seem to pay too much attention to her finger wound. Usually, when we carelessly cut our finger, even it's a tiny hairline cut, the wound would drive us crazy, the throbbing pain would be non-stop even the bleeding stopped. We'd keep raise our arm and keep our wounded hand or finger upward and high enough to reduce the throbbing pain. But this director and the young actress just overlooked this important detail, making the movie suddenly became quite fake. 3) There seemed to have no refrigeration in the butcher shop, front and back. If the weather temperature was not sub zero, then what the hack?

But none of the above-mentioned flaws would devalue this movie's watchable value. It's actually pretty good, as most of the reviewers said.

Jean-Claude Van Damme shines as Samson Gual, an ex-mercenary haunted by tragic accidents of his past job who seeks to redeem himself when he's approached by a MMA fighter who seeks Gual's help in getting his fourteen year old daughter back after she's abducted by sex traffickers.

While a bit hokey in places and some of the acting by the bit players leaving much to be desired, all the major characters do a very adequate job and the action scenes are very good. I found myself enjoying this "Taken"-esque film quite a bit. JCVD indeed has another winner on his hands.