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.

Did not want to dislike '6 Ways to Die'. It was again not a bad, if not new, premise and Vinnie Jones has given alright performances in the past. It had potential to work, and would have done with effort being obvious and like those in front of and behind the camera had their hearts in it.

Unlike most other films starring or featuring Jones recently, '6 Ways to Die' did show effort. It just did it badly. Have seen worse films, recently and ever, but that doesn't stop '6 Ways to Die' from being a very poor film with no redeeming traits and a lot of things done absolutely terribly. There is not much to add to what has been said very well already and the review is at the risk of repeating what has been said. Just for the record, '6 Ways to Die' was watched with an open mind and not without the intent or want to dislike, let alone hate, the film, quite the contrary.

'6 Ways to Die' has very little going for it, but it deserves some credit for actually trying and putting some effort in.

The setting is okay and the thing that comes off least badly.

Sadly, it is a case of that '6 Ways to Die' tries too hard. The story has too many strands and such and does nothing with any of them, making the storytelling come over as over-complicated and sometimes incomprehensible with no development to any of them whatsoever. The archetypal ciphers passing for characters are very difficult to care for or endear to, with no attempt at development and with too little personality or likeability. Some of them even are unnecessary.

Moreover, the script is verbose, awkward-sounding and very pompous. This self-indulgence is similarly seen from start to finish in the photography and editing, which also tend to be repetitive. The music is forgettable at best and the acting is not really worth mentioning with the all-round badly used (most under-utilised and some pointless, especially a completely wasted Vivica A. Fox) cast giving performances completely lacking in vigour or intensity. Jones is one of the biggest examples of this. Michael Rene Walton comes off best.

Overall, very bad. 2/10 Bethany Cox

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.