One intriguing thing about the movie is the way the characters are developed - you don't know much about them and you can only see them superficially. You may only guess what they're thinking about at a specific moment but you'll never know for sure. For an example, you may find a little resemblance between the 'good guy' and the 'bad' one. The film also shows us that you can always learn from somebody that has different views on world than you and can /possibly/ change you. An interesting character is the main character's son - he's acting bad with his father and that may annoy you but then you see his reasons. Everybody has his own reasons for his attitude towards the others so don't rush to judge when you come across such a situation in life.
Finally, I'll tell some not so important things about what I've seen - I can't remember what the music was or if it had music at all so I voted the highest possible in order not to affect the other part. The story had some things that lacked but it will always exist something that lacks, it's 2 hours long after all, there can't be a really deep development of the plot. However, it's worth rewatching it with friends, you need to show somebody else this project. As for the cast - 10/10, nothing less. I came here because of Wu Yi Fan but I ended up liking everyone. Go ahead and download this film!
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Story / Audience
This movie is enjoyable for most if not all audiences. Since it centers around an older character, Mr. Six, the older generations, especially those who lived in the latter half of the 20th century in China, would enjoy it most, sympathizing with the time-old jokes of the older man. The clash of old and new morals in modern society is a compelling subject to discuss about in film for the Chinese, due to China's rapidly evolving industrial sphere.
Mr. Six is loaded with fighting (kungfu-ish), which is what I expect from a Chinese movie. The pacing during the action scenes was terrible, loaded with slow motion when it was supposed to be fast paced. It was not notable enough to complete throw off the audience's concentration; however, it did subtract from the epic element in the movie. After watching this movie, I really believe this old geezer can defeat anything. However do keep in mind he is old, so the movie is about him being old sometimes.
Acting / Cast
The cast was masterfully picked. In my opinion, it could not have been better. The acting of Mr. Six (Feng Xiaogang) is sprinkled with his traditional comedy and emotion. It was a compelling performance on the big screen. Xiao Fei (Kris Wu) also had emotional depth, making a multitude of facial expressions that made me laugh. The other characters acted accordingly; however, the script did not bring out anything but their violent and frivolous natures, making their character development shallow. The only other characters who had minor character developments were the aunt and the son (Li Yifeng), but their role in the movie as consistent supporters of Mr. Six made Mr. Six overshadow any such attempt to develop their characters.
Music
The music was nothing worth mentioning. There was a cameo of TFBOYS right before the climax, and I honestly wish they sang something. As a former member of EXO, anything Kris sang would have added to the music aspect of the movie. At the very least, the music was well-placed within Mr. Six, appearing at appropriate times like epic battle scenes.
Rewatch Value / Translation
The English subs made my eyes bleed at certain times. The Chinese subs were right on point.
If given the chance, I would rewatch this movie to better understand the plot.
Westerners, be warned, this plot is filled with Chinese morals.
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This review may contain spoilers
Feng Xiao Gang played the title role of Mr. Six with all the depth and a bit of coldness, which is what made this film. The way he faces people who are dangerous but despite being a former gangster he follows his own moral code which basically means he doesn't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it in his eyes, namely anyone who crossed him or screwed him over. But this film tackles a subject that you rarely see being touched -- what it's like to become old, having a failing body but your mind remains that of a young gangster. How devastating it is to watch the younger people be disrespectful just because of your age. And the irony of media that shows a forty something guy and calls him 'middle aged.' All of this is just done with such raw power as far as the actor's talent is concerned, everyone from Yi Feng to Kris just nailed it. And I love how realistic the portrayal of real poverty and the sense of desperation you feel when the only reason your child is in danger is because you don't have the ransom to pay his kidnappers. The thing about this film is it relies on raw realism. Especially that scene where Mr six tries to get the ransom money to get his son YiFeng back from Kris, that was so touching, just beautifully done.
So that father who calls you a sissy because of the way you look, doesn't suddenly go around saying keep this look, and gets super woke all of a sudden, it just shows that even someone who thinks you're 'a sissy' can still love you. But it doesn't provide justification for the wrongs the father did but when Yi Feng tells him why he resents him you can tell Mr. Six would do anything to do things different if he had the chance. And in a way the reason he wants Yi Feng to 'clean up his act' and act tough is because Mr. Six knows his own health is deteriorating and Yi Feng clearly doesn't have loyal friends so in his mind having a tough exterior will protect Yi Feng at least a little from people like Kris.
But the absolute genius of the film is the way even Kris is clearly shown to have a controlling, abusive father who basically imprisoned his own son to manipulate Mr. Six in a desperate situation because sure the girl said she snuck Yi Feng out of Kris's custody but if Kris really wanted to capture Yi Feng or hurt him he could have done it anytime, but it wasn't Kris but his greedy, selfish father who sends YiFeng to the hospital , breaks his skull. Because you can tell when Kris hears of this from Mr. Six he even apologizes and he has tears in his eyes throughout. So he was sincere.
But okay, the reason I can't give it a higher rating is honestly because the ending - it just felt trite and didn't match the rest of the film it was anticlimactic you can say. I would have been fine if it just faded to black where they show Kris crying but you don't actually see anything on screen. That scene and everything before it was so well executed! But the ending just didn't work for me, the whole son feeds birds like the father after father dies its so played out.
Still this film, despite its minor shortcomings, is a must watch.
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