6 Underground Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs
5. The Terrible Editing & Camerawork
Though Michael Bay's movies are undeniably an acquired taste from an aesthetic perspective, most of his films do boast a certain appealing intensity when it comes to their frantic action sequences.
And so the most basic disappointment in this movie is just how rough it is from a directorial standpoint.
The film opens with an extended, 15-minute car chase through Florence, yet Bay's editing is so choppy and busy, and the camerawork so shaky, that it's hard to savour much of the carnage.
Bay rarely holds on a single shot for more than a second, unless he's employing his signature excessive slow-motion, of course.
Everything moves so fast that it's chaotic, disorientating, and perhaps even migraine-inducing, ensuring it's tough to actually sit back and just enjoy the carnage.
The film does calm down a little after this opening salvo, but even basic dialogue scenes feel chopped to pieces in the editing room, and it's all too rare that Bay actually just holds on an image for the desired length of time.