6 WAYS TO DIE – The Review

Directed and written by Nadeem Soumah with Vinnie Jones, Michael Rene Walton, Viveca A Fox, Bai Ling

A mysterious Englishman who calls himself “John Doe” (Vinnie Jones) hires a professional hit man. The target?  A drug cartel leader named Sonny “Sundown” Garcia (Michael Rene Walton), a rich, powerful and dangerous career criminal who “stole everything I ever loved” according to John Doe.

The movie begins with the hit taking place, in full view of a crowd of dancers at Sonny’s night club.  This occurs,  even though the hit man states he does not make any hits in front of witnesses.  John Doe also insists the hit be done with a particular weapon that Sonny used in the past, the incident the movie keeps flashing back to, which “took everything I ever loved.”  This is all about revenge you see.

6 WAYS TO DIE proceeds to tell us the 6 ways to die, in reverse order and announced with title cards.   Much like Memento we are given lots of information, but little explanation as to what is occurring.  Besides the hit man John Doe hires 5 other people, with very specific skill sets, to perform 5 very different jobs for him. And John Doe is very, very specific as to what he wants done. All the actions lead up to a double twist ending I defy anyone to see coming.  All the different jobs John Doe has assigned fall into place at the end and we find that nothing is what it seemed.

Beyond that I cannot tell any more without giving out spoilers, this is one thriller that must be seen from the beginning, and paid attention to.  Which may doom its chances of finding an audience.  Many movie goers now want movies they do not have to pay any attention to so they can keep texting and web surfing while the movie plays.

I will say that 6 WAYS TO DIE is smart, edgy, complex and surprising.  Most of the actors were unfamiliar to me with the exceptions of Vinnie Jones , who starred in Midnight Meat Train, which if you have not seen I highly recommend, (if you can take Clive Barker’s patented mayhem!  That is one bloody movie!)  He has an impressive resume and made his name in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Bai Ling is a familiar and beautiful face from films like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Edmond. Dominque Swain appeared in Lolita and Road To Nowhere. Their resumes are also quite impressive. We also get what amounts to a cameo from Tom Sizemore.

Point being, this is a true ensemble piece and all the actors are on top of their game and the real surprise is the script and the direction. I had never heard of Nadeem Soumah, he also has an impressive resume, and this is one terrific project. I sincerely hope we see more work from him, he deserves a long and interesting career.

Highly recommended, four stars out of five.

6 WAYS TO DIE opens
In theaters and VOD on Friday, July 31st