6 Ways to Die

I love movies, even bad ones but this was SO BAD. Tom Sizemore was in it, it can't be that bad I thought. He wouldn't have made a bad movie, he was in it for like 3 minutes. I feel stupider for having sat through the whole thing. I never write reviews but I had to warn everyone else. Don't bother... It is almost like some guy in high school watched the Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction and a few other modern gangster movies and thought, gee, I can do this. Nothing to it... Just mash up all the cliché plot themes, scatter the time-line and have a big secret at the end and it will be so good. Maybe he thought it would launch his career and he would be so famous. Instead he has to live with the shame of knowing his friends, family and future girlfriends knowing that he was the one that wrote this god-awful story. Back to washing dishes...they say its better to try and fail than not at all. This movie is a great argument against that point.

This is a prime example where less is more. The movie executes multiple perspectives and subplots to the point of exhaustion. It follows John Doe (Vinnie Jones) as he sets intricate plans for revenge by hiring six different conmen or assassins. Each of them reveals a facet of the target, along with occasional flashback and branching story, all of which ultimately end in an uninspiring conclusion.

With six hit men following their own respective plot, this is basically six short stories woven together, but not in consistent fashion. It's not an intersecting story like Snatch or even Smokin' Aces, there are many perspectives and timelines, yet they don't mesh together that well. It even feels fragmented since each hit-man has limited screen time, not enough to establish their character for overall continuity.

Cinematography is done with too much focus on style, the movie repetitively pans over to the same shots of night club, flashback or slow motion gun shot. Prepare to see these scenes again and again throughout the movie as though it wants to be edgy so badly, instead it becomes tiresome later on.

The cast is pretty presentable, action fans would be pleased to see the Vinnie Jones or Vivica A. Fox. The characters are made to cater flamboyant lifestyle with extravagant personalities and attractive ladies. This might appeal to viewer who like exaggerated hit-man or noir style, although the movie could've worked better with lighter tone or more constructed plot.

It tries to produce intense display of a revenge tale as it delves into different aspects of the target's life, yet it's gradually becoming shallower as it progresses. Furthermore, the ending feels forced, making it a needlessly complicated and boring spectacle.

You end up with a movie like this. There was so much potential in this movie, but like everyone said, it was wasted because this movie was the definition of less being more. There was too much going on; too many different story lines, too many characters, took many flashbacks, just too da*m much. I gave it 4 stars because I did hang around until the end, but that was only because I had invested my time and wanted a return on that investment.

Sundown can be beautiful. Or it can be deceiving, because it's getting dark and you're not sure what you're seeing. Or it's just a character name ... is it though? One thing is for sure, the script tries to be very clever and the amount of people acting in this, that you might know from other movies is incredible.

So while this isn't Tarantino and it's not really magic, it is kind of entertaining if you let it be. As I said, the story is complex and the time-lines get a bit tangled up (some might actually watch it again for the whole experience), but overall it's a decent low budget effort with some quality actors in it.

This film may have a few name action stars such as Vinnie Jones, Tom Sizemore and Bai Ling, but it is a home made film written and directed by a nobody wannabe named Nadeem Soumah. The action is non existent and the murder for hire scenario(s) is about as dull as a plastic knife attempting to cut through concrete.

Vinnie Jones narrates the background story going back in time at 2 week intervals. If you have watched Vinnie Jones in the two prior Guy Ritchie writer/director films, the 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels , and the 2000 film Snatch then you know what a good film looks like. I think the writer/director of 6 Ways to Die, Nadeem Soumah, may have used a ghost writer to write this MESSterpiece which he thought in his own mind would be an award winning film NOT!!!!!!

Avoid it because the film is a mess.