"Assassination Games" director Ernie Barbarash and scenarists Chad and Evan Law have concocted an above-average suspense thriller "6 Bullets" for martial arts action Jean Claude Van Damme that is a notch above his usual formulaic fodder. Actually, there are consequences for our protagonist in all the super-charged, high-octane antics in this swiftly-paced abduction opus set in Eastern Europe's Moldova. Jean-Claude is cast as a butcher who rescues kidnapped children when he isn't carving up meat. "6 Bullets" opens with a slam-bang sequence where our hero saves a youngster from a gang of ruthless dastards who have nothing but evil in store for the young lad. Jean-Claude decimates the opposition, slashing and shooting his way through numerous adversaries as he scrambles out of their huge house with the child in tow. He has set everything up for his escape and triggers a series of explosions that took out the villains and distract those that remain as he makes his escape. Later, a grim-faced Police Inspector Kvitko (Steve Nicolson of "Johnny English") informs him that during his explosive exodus, ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Samson Gaul (Jean-Claude Van Dame of "Maximum Risk") was responsible for some unfortunate collateral damage. The explosions that blew up the house also killed two young girls who had been kidnapped, too. Now, our remorseful protagonist finds himself haunted at every turn by the specters of those two semi-incinerated girls. He decides to get out the Good Samaritan business of finding missing people because of the collateral damage.
Naturally, no sooner than Gaul has retired, husband Andrew Fayden (Joe Flanigan of "The Other Sister") and wife Monica (Anna-Louise Plowman of "The Foreigner") visiting Moldova with their daughter find themselves up to their collective necks in trouble when the daughter Becky Fayden (Charlotte Beaumont of "Jupiter Ascending") disappears. When the Faydens contact Samson, he refuses to help them because he is still recovering from the previous incident involving the incinerated girls. Eventually, Samson decides to help them, and he creates a lot of violence and confusion for the slimy villains. Unfortunately, Samson pits the bad guys against themselves, and they kill the two individuals holding her and fake Becky's death. A police doctor confirms the remains found in the house where a man and woman were shot to death match Becky's DNA. Inspector Kvitko convinces the Faydens that their daughter died needlessly because of Samson's reckless bravado, and the Faydens turn on him. Our hero returns to his butcher shop upset with not only himself but also his son, Selwyn Gaul (Kristopher Van Varenberg of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration"), for getting back into this bloodthirsty business. Samson begins drinking again and he hallucinates and sees the two girls. About that time, the villains enter his butcher shop and torture him. At this point, feeling as bad as he does about what he has done to Becky, Samson is prepared to die to assuage his guilt. He realizes during the beating that he takes at the hands of the villains that Becky may not be dead. In the photographs of Becky, she has a bracelet on one wrist instead of another. Samson abducts the police surgeon Dr. Sui (Ioan Ionescu of "Born to Raise Hell") and Monica threatens to rips his genitals off if he doesn't tell them the truth about her daughter. Sui confesses to them that he lied about Becky.
No great shakes in the greater scheme of things, the "Taken" like "6 Bullets" still qualifies as an entertaining and exciting JCVD actioneer. Some of the thespings (not JCVD) leaves something to be desired, but tight direction, no-nonsense action add up to a stronger than usual straight-to-video release. The ending is particularly cool.
Naturally, no sooner than Gaul has retired, husband Andrew Fayden (Joe Flanigan of "The Other Sister") and wife Monica (Anna-Louise Plowman of "The Foreigner") visiting Moldova with their daughter find themselves up to their collective necks in trouble when the daughter Becky Fayden (Charlotte Beaumont of "Jupiter Ascending") disappears. When the Faydens contact Samson, he refuses to help them because he is still recovering from the previous incident involving the incinerated girls. Eventually, Samson decides to help them, and he creates a lot of violence and confusion for the slimy villains. Unfortunately, Samson pits the bad guys against themselves, and they kill the two individuals holding her and fake Becky's death. A police doctor confirms the remains found in the house where a man and woman were shot to death match Becky's DNA. Inspector Kvitko convinces the Faydens that their daughter died needlessly because of Samson's reckless bravado, and the Faydens turn on him. Our hero returns to his butcher shop upset with not only himself but also his son, Selwyn Gaul (Kristopher Van Varenberg of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration"), for getting back into this bloodthirsty business. Samson begins drinking again and he hallucinates and sees the two girls. About that time, the villains enter his butcher shop and torture him. At this point, feeling as bad as he does about what he has done to Becky, Samson is prepared to die to assuage his guilt. He realizes during the beating that he takes at the hands of the villains that Becky may not be dead. In the photographs of Becky, she has a bracelet on one wrist instead of another. Samson abducts the police surgeon Dr. Sui (Ioan Ionescu of "Born to Raise Hell") and Monica threatens to rips his genitals off if he doesn't tell them the truth about her daughter. Sui confesses to them that he lied about Becky.
No great shakes in the greater scheme of things, the "Taken" like "6 Bullets" still qualifies as an entertaining and exciting JCVD actioneer. Some of the thespings (not JCVD) leaves something to be desired, but tight direction, no-nonsense action add up to a stronger than usual straight-to-video release. The ending is particularly cool.