- Director: Seth Gordon
- Screenplay: Seth Gordon, Brendan O’Brien
- Cast: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Kyle Chandler, Glenn Close, Jamie Demetriou, Andrew Scott
- Cinematography: Ken Seng
- Editing: Peter S. Elliot
- Score: Christopher Lennertz
- Genre: Action comedy
- Runtime: 114 minutes
After a botched mission to retrieve an all-powerful key (with the ability to control electronic systems), CIA agents Matt (Foxx) and Emily (Diaz) decide to go off the grid. It’s just as well – Emily is pregnant with Matt’s baby. Not exactly ideal for their line of work anyway. Jumping ahead 15 years, the pair are married and now have two children, living the suburban dream as overprotective parents – that is until their identities are compromised thanks to a very public brawl in a nightclub.
The title ‘Back in Action‘ could refer to our protagonists returning to the fold but also to Diaz, who took a hiatus from acting for a decade, her most recent credit was 2014’s ‘Annie‘. Was this project worth coming out of retirement for? I’d say so, yes.
While the fight sequences are slick and well choreographed (one of them amusingly to the tune of Dean Martin’s ‘Ain’t That A Kick in the Head‘), it adheres to the typical ‘twisty spy thriller’ formula, similar to last year’s Netflix Original ‘The Union‘ (which I really enjoyed), the only difference being the added family dynamic. Almost as if Netflix churns these movies out with slight variations; it wouldn’t take a superspy to spot that.
It’s great fun though, and nice to see Cameron Diaz once again gracing our screens. This ain’t just a one-off return for her – she’s got a couple of films in the pipeline; ‘Outcome‘, a black comedy with Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill, and the much anticipated (and memed) ‘Shrek 5‘.
My rating: 7 / 10
SilverScreen 