Bullet Points: The Marine 6: Close Quarters
There are three things about The Marine 6: Close Quarters that will surprise movie goers:
First of all, the fact that there are now six movies in The Marine franchise. Who could have guessed back in 2006 when John Cena starred in the first film that there would be one sequel, let alone five and that most of those with Mike “The Miz” Mizanin making the franchise his own?
Second, Becky Lynch’s performance in the film. First time actress Becky Lynch (aka Rebecca Quin) knew her role and played her part to the hilt making the most of every minute she was on screen.
Third, the shocking plot twist that defies action movie tradition and will surely have fans of the franchise talking…
- Introduction: Mike “The Miz” Mizanin reprises his role as former Marine/current EMT, Jake Carter but The Marine 6: Close Quarters introduces us to a character from Jake’s past… Luke Tapper (played by WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels) is Jake’s former commanding officer in the USMC. As the opening credits roll, we see Jake and Luke sparring at the gym. Luke, who now works for the Department of Veterans Affairs, convinces Jake to go on a ride along with him as Luke visits Tommy Walker, a Vietnam vet, who has been squatting in an abandoned brewery. The hope is that together Luke and Jake will be able to convince Tommy to come back with them as Luke has arranged proper housing for Tommy.
- Hangin’ Tough: WWE Superstar Becky Lynch makes her acting debut in The Marine 6: Close Quarters as Maddy Hayes, the daughter of a well connected career criminal who is on trial for the murders of two police officers. Maddy and her brother Oscar track down and kidnap Sarah Dillon (Louisa Connolly-Burnham) the daughter of one of the jurors on Maddy’s father’s trial. Maddy then reaches out to Sarah’s dad, Patrick, with some simple instructions… Patrick makes sure it is a hung jury so Maddy’s father is set free. If he doesn’t, Maddy will hang Sarah… and as the movie goes on we realize that is not an idle threat, cuz Maddy has no trouble killing. And where is Maddy and her rogue’s gallery holding Sarah until the trial is over? The abandoned brewery that our heroes Jake and Luke are en route to… where else?!
- Wrong Place, Wrong Time: After failing to convince Tommy to leave the brewery, Jake and Luke are making their way back to Luke’s truck when they hear a female screaming from one of the upper floors of the building, when they go to investigate they end up stumbling in on Sarah as she is surrounded by Maddy and her goons. Next thing Jake and Luke realize they have guns pointed at them and all hell is about to break out. After the dust settles, some bad guys end up dead some more bad guys end up with broken bones and Jake, Luke and Sarah now have to try to make their way outside the abandoned brewery that is crawling with bad guys. At this point, the action is almost non-stop. One of the action highlights is when the trio have to make their way down a grain chute to escape certain death and they certainly don’t come out of that situation unscathed… good thing Jake is an EMT! From there our heroes hook up with Tommy, who tells the trio about some underground tunnels that can lead them to freedom… but Maddy and company know about these tunnels too. My action movie instincts were telling me that the tunnels would serve as the movie’s final battleground and I couldn’t have been more right and wrong at the same time if I tried.
The action in The Marine 6: Close Quarters was solid from start to finish and it was exactly what we’ve come to expect from the franchise. Not sure if it was by design, but the “by the book” nature of the first two acts of the movie almost lull the viewer into going into action movie auto-pilot mode, which made the mind boggling twist in act three all the more shocking.
No shockers here, I am going to wrap up this review with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Hair Yesterday, Gone Today: It is unfortunate that Shawn Michaels did not decide to part with his hair before playing the part of a former Marine, the bald look would have worked perfectly for a military man more so than the last shreds of Shawn’s classic long locks.
- Familiar Face: Maddy’s brother Oscar Hayes is played by the hulking Martyn Ford, who I literally just saw in Robin Hood: The Rebellion. Action fans may also recognize the extremely recognizable Ford from movies like Accident Man, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Boyka: Undisputed.
- Product Placement: During the opening credits, Mike Mizanin can be seen wearing a Tapout shirt. Coincidentally, the WWE is 50% owner of Tapout.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels run THROUGH a wall, then this is the movie for you.
- Directed By: Director James Nunn who helmed The Marine 6: Close Quarters, had previously worked on two other WWE Studios projects, The Marine 5: Battleground and Eliminators starring Scott Adkins and Stu Bennett.
