Back in Action

Once again, we are faced with a simple movie from a streaming service that features well-known actors. While it may lack original ideas and intricate plot details, the film surprisingly achieves what it sets out to do: entertain the audience.

One of the strengths of this film lies in its abundance of amusing characters and the jokes they deliver. These elements are not only sufficient but often exceed what is necessary to ensure a pleasurable viewing experience. It's important to approach such films with the right mindset-one of lowered expectations. When you don't anticipate groundbreaking storytelling or innovative concepts, the film manages to pleasantly surprise you and leave you with a sense of enjoyment and positive emotion.

So, if you're in the mood for a film that doesn't demand much of your attention but still brings a smile to your face, this might just be the right choice.

It's hard not to be a little insulted by Netflix sometimes. They seem to have a very specific type of movie they like to put out time and again and it really is aimed at the lowest level of movie-viewer. This tacky, predictable and safe movie template that they have down and throw out a dozen times a year is just awful to watch and 'Back in Action' is just another one to throw on the trash heap.

It was nice to see Cameron Diaz again after 11 years. I always enjoyed her charisma and sass that she was able to bring to a role. Here though she was not her usual self. Whether that was the script or her being a bit rusty I'm not sure. She didn't have any chemistry with Jamie Foxx though whatsoever.

Those are two fine actors and they both felt wooden the entire film. Foxx did have some health problems during filming though it is worth noting, so I'm happy to give him a pass. The fact that he completed the film at all is commendable.

Also I could've done without the bratty kid characters. Did anyone consider making them likable so that we might care about their fate a little more?

Sometimes you can say, turn your brain off and you'll have a good time. With this movie you need to turn your brain off to avoid the frustration of the absurdly stupid script and story, but you're still not going to have a good time if you do. Things like a plane crashing into the side of a mountain and then characters just walking away without a scratch are just the tip of the iceberg. The fun element was severely lacking in this movie.

I tried so hard to get into this movie and enjoy the ride but I just couldn't. Mostly I was just bored. A generous 4/10.

It's a predictable, bad and a boring movie.

I've just wasted my time with another boring Netflix movie.

I love Cameron Diaz but it still is not enough to like this movie.

What's this obsession with secret agent married couples with children running away from the bad guys? It's all the same!

I don't even remember the last time Hollywood made a proper comedy or action movie. I keep watching movies from the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

Please Netflix no more so called "action-comedy"!

I am this close to cancel my subscription.

Maybe it's not just Netflix, the problem with Hollywood as a whole. Hollywood is on a big decline.

15 years after leaving behind their careers as superspies by faking their deaths, Emily (Cameron Diaz) and Matt (Jamie Foxx) have started a family and now live a quiet suburban life with their teenage daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts) and young son Leo (Rylan Jackson) while dealing with parental challenges like teenage rebellion and screentime. After following their daughter to a late night rendezvous at a night club where they use their martial arts training against some aggressive young men, the two are visited by their former handler Chuck (Kyle Chandler) who warns them the video of their fight has gone viral and that both the CIA and arms dealer Gor (Robert Besta) will likely track them down in the hopes of acquiring the ICS, a digital weapon that Matt hid unbeknownst to Emily if in case they ever needed leverage and to keep it from falling in the wrong hands. After Chuck is killed the two flee with their children while dodging assassins and mercenaries as they head to England where the ICS is hidden with Emily's estranged mother Ginny (Glenn Close).

Back in Action is the latest star studded genre film from Netflix and comes to us from writers Seth Gordon and Brendan O'Brien the former of whom also directs. The film marks Foxx's fourth collaboration with the streamer following works like Project Power, Day Shift and they very enjoyable They Cloned Tyrone and also marks the first role for Cameron Diaz since 2014's Annie after the actress took a hiatus due to the travel demands of acting. Back in Action doesn't break any new ground when it comes to this kind of high concept action-comedy film, but despite being pure formula it is elevated by the strong chemistry and comedic timing of Foxx and Diaz.

Back in Action follows a similar framework you've seen with this type of format which can be traced back to things like True Lies from the 90s or Romancing the Stone and its various immitators of the 80s (like American Dreamer for instance). This kind of format has been used time and time again (This Means War, Killers, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Ghosted, etc.) and if you're familiar with the formula it's very much in play here. The opening sequence involving Emily and Matt infiltrating Gor's mansion to obtain the ICS is actually quite well done and features some good choreography even if the plane crash sequence maybe is a tad overdone. It helps that Diaz and Foxx do have really good chemistry with each other and it's a marked improvement from last year's Argylle that had terrible chemistry between its leads and an overly bloated runtime. The first act after the opening sequence is probably the weakest part of the film with some very on the nose "generation gap" humor with Alice and Leo two-dimensional Gen Z and Gen Alpha archetypes whose position is really only to react to the reveal of their parents superspy past without really being fully fleshed characters themselves and it's the kind of thing that feels very "sitcom" in its usage of awkward humor. Once the family is forced on the run it adheres pretty closely to the patterns of this kind of formula action comedy but there are some amusing moments especially with Glenn Close as Emily's mother and some good against type stunt casting where the prior roles associated with two actors help make a pretty obvious twist have more weight than you'd expect.

Back in Action is not a great movie but it's a decent rental especially when you consider prior spy films from last year like Canary Black and Argylle that didn't work at all. If this were a theatrical film, I'd say it's something you can rent and be reasonably entertained. Take that for what you will.

It's the kind of movie that not everyone will like, but deep down it hides a simple, repetitive, but efficient entertainment that's good enough to spend a weekend watching the return of Cameron Diaz and her still-lively chemistry with Jamie Foxx.

Netflix delivers its first big blockbuster of the year and does so by bringing back the chemistry of Foxx and Diaz on screen with an everyday action comedy that will not propose anything new to the universe, but will leave an entertaining pastime for those looking for simple things without major complexes, sometimes the cinema also needs moments of relaxation like these.

Under the direction of a director who is a regular in the genre like Seth Gordon, we are faced with a film that delivers well-done scenes and sequences and at the same time lacks depth in its characters, not to mention memorable dialogues, but a couple of well-done gags that balance the on-screen adventure in a simple, repetitive blockbuster full of clichés, but that entertains, which is what it ultimately seeks in its mission.

Seeing Cameron Diaz again after so much time on screen is the big punch that this new Netflix release has, despite not having the best tools, the actress once again demonstrates her charisma on screen and her perfect chemistry with an also returning Jamie Foxx after his health problems. Back in action for a duo that is always a delight to see on screen, and although they do not have a wonderful script in their favour, they do provide moments where they make us happy and entertain us just as their supporting actors do, who in some way contributes to a good pastime.

It has all the circumstances to be the new big Netflix franchise, and it has a couple of arguments to give us something more. Clearly, it is not one of those movies that will mark great milestones, but it does manage to be the first big blockbuster of 2025 even if it does not leave everyone happy. It is a Netflix-style movie that is good for a family weekend, at the service of the charisma of a duo that is back to make us spend pleasant moments on screen.

Almost 11 years without Cameron Diaz on screen was too much, seeing her again is a real pleasure. Thank you, Netflix, for that, welcome back home my dear Cameron Diaz.