Back In Action (2025) - Messy but Watchable Netflix Spy Comedy - REVIEW

in voilk •  24 days ago

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    Got to say a good part of the audience look like they were excited to see Cameron Diaz back on the big screen, specially if you are in your 30s you probably saw her on Charlies Angels, its been a while since her last movie and pairing her with Jamie Foxx I knew it was going to be a funny one, yeah the movie seem to be just too formulated, the spy comedy with tons of explosions, the couple that gets haunted by their past trying to build up a life now with kids, I mean there is nothing wrong about but the extreme high expectations that probably the audience had, this is not a blockbuster movie just a movie to kill some time and have a few laughs, you know that type of movie you have in queue for when ever there is nothing else to watch and you just want to relax. Many question if this was the right type of movie for her to come back and I honestly think its fine, at this point in time she is an icon from the early 2000s, two decades ago so yeah its been too long to all of the sudden land a role on a movie like say Dune, come on, lets be realistic.

    Source A movie with the right amount of flash backs as it has to set the story, everything starts 15 years ago with Emily; played by Cameron Diaz, and her husband Matt; played by Jamie Foxx. They both CIA agents on a mission to steal a master key that can control power grids around the world, the opening of the movie sets the right tone to it with very intense fight scenes and what force them out of that life, kids. Emily is pregnant and this force them to fake their death and retire from the spy profession, living quiet life in the suburban with their now two kids, this all work out until a viral video of them beating up some guys at a nightclub after been called boomers and try to bully them, this goes off on the internet and blows their cover, it sounds ridiculous but totally believable now days.

    After a good start the movie follows a very predictable and safe formula, from the spy couple who retire in a mysterious way because they having a kid, to life their calm life to having spy blood in their family, its the case of Emily whose mother is an ex MI6, Ginny played by Glen Close is Emily's mother and the one person who can lead them into trying to find the bad guys after them. There is a lot of running around trying to recover that master key that controls power grids, dealing with the bad guys who want revenge to Emily and Matt, and attempting to keep their kids safe while explaining why mom and dad are not just boring suburban parents, all in between this there is a lot of laughs. They made the title try to work both for Cameron Diaz and the movie itself, I would consider it a "soft" come back that work well enough.

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    Source Diaz and Foxx definitely still have that spark that made them fun to watch, they both look very natural and never force on their roles and you can tell they're having fun with the physical comedy and action scenes. They both have experience on this kind of action movies, not that they are stunt man but the acting seem very natural as they made the transition from suburban parents to spy action couple, in my opinion some of the action scenes during the movie look so exaggerated when it comes to the stunts and explosions that even Emily and Matt look surprise and amaze about what is going on, I found that aspect funny.

    Glenn Close steals every scene she is in as Emily's mother Ginny, bringing this perfect mix of British sophistication and deadly spy skills, she came out into the movie in a very precise moment to lift up the characters when they loosing momentum. Jamie Demetriou as her younger boyfriend Nigel also boost the laughs and comedy side, especially during a scene where he has to save London using a laptop and completely freaks out. The kids, played by McKenna Roberts and Rylan Jackson, do their best with what they are given, after all very secondary characters but feel more like plot devices than fully developed people.

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    Source Lets be honest the movie has been smash with low scores reviews from both critics and audience, although a 6/10 from the audience puts it more into the "its fine" category rather than the 3/10 that critics gave it on Rottentomatoes. I think some times we need to be realistic and appreciate movies for what they are, in this case an easy watch not complicated at all very formulated classic spy couple movie trying to protect their kids. This is not intended to win any awards or reinvent action scenes, does have a couple of plot twist that keep you interested so I don't see why going as low as a 3.

    As most things in the movie the ending is a very predictable one but at the same time somewhat rushed, after a big chase jumping from boats to bikes, big chase sequence, its thrown in our face that Chuck; played by Kyle Chandler, was actually working with Balthazar Gor, the bad guys, the classic double agent who was planning to use the master key to control power grids all over the world, this is just too much, reminds of Pinky and The Brain type of plan.

    To keep the movie very Friends & Family rated, in the final fight Emily and Matt work together with their kids, Alice use her tech skills to hack the facility security, something that always diminish movies is the fake hacking scenes. The family does manage to secure the master key and gave it to the authorities, giving them immunity as they were part of a "non official" CIA reaction team, basically the type of division that doesn't exist so when things go south they were to blame without any connections to the agency.

    The movie does keep the door open for a sequel, considering the low scores I doubt Netflix would want to go for it, but got to recognize it did well for Netflix in the streaming department with 88.9 million hours view, this doesn't translate in success but is not as bad as reviews put it. It's not going to revolutionize the action comedy genre and it probably won't be remembered as one of Diaz's best movies, it has enough entertaining moments to make it worth a watch. I gave it a 6.5/10 score that feels just right for me, it's slightly above average thanks to the chemistry between the Diaz and Foxx, along with some solid action sequences but it never quite reaches the heights it could have with this talented cast.

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