When their peaceful and uneventful family life comes under fire after their past is leaked, ex-CIA spies Emily and Matt must do what it takes to save their family, including jumping right into the danger and getting rid of the enemies.
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Back in Action Movie Director
Seth Gordon
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Back in Action 2025 Writers
Seth Gordon, Brendan O’Brien
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Back in Action Netflix Cast
Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, Kyle Chandler, Glenn Close
The action-comedy film has a runtime of 112 minutes.
Back in Action Review
This Netflix action film starts off, you guessed it, with a kick-ass action sequence while stealing a very important key, followed by a kick-ass action sequence on the plane which then crashes. Just from the first 15 minutes, it becomes apparent that Back in Action is going to be real doozy of a film that has very little logic but a lot of mind-numbing entertainment.
It follows its set formula with some funny dialogue which makes the film partly bearable. There are moments that are quite humorous and will leave you laughing, while at other points you won’t be able to roll your eyes enough. I think the film does its best with a story that holds on for dear life. It looks good, the actors do a good job and they have good chemistry that makes them endearing to watch. Although almost everything is cliched, I liked the interactions between the family and how the children are with their parents. It’s very expected but it’s funny either way.
In that sense, I found the film to be quite humorous. The jokes are half-witty and the retorts are scalding enough to not make you want to gouge your eyes out. The action is also fantastic and both Foxx and Diaz do a great job of delivering the punches stylishly and believably. Thus, all is not lost and viewers will find themselves entertained during these moments. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that there’s nothing of note about this film. There are better films in the genre, like Knight and Day or Baby Driver. The storyline here doesn’t stand out in any way and gets obnoxious really fast.
I think it all gets more insane when Glenn Close is introduced and well, the mother-daughter relationship is discussed. I think Close’s Ginny is infectious and adds some spice to the mix. Everyone shares really good chemistry with one another and their bickering is really funny, sometimes even endearing. The twists are stale, but at least we have this. Knoxx and Diaz do a great job with what they are given – they are equally comfortable being confused parents as they are dedicated spies. The two make for a good team and with a better script this could’ve really been a memorable watch.
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As mentioned previously, Back in Action hardly has anything that makes it stand out – even the brilliant Andrew Scott (who is a blessing in everything he appears in) can’t save it from being forgettable. From the stealing to the running away from the job thing, it’s everything we have seen before but it’s just better. The film doesn’t try to bring anything new to the table and neither does it trust its audience to figure out anything that is happening on-screen. As a result, you sometimes painfully sit there watching it all roll out although it was apparently from the start.
Final Thoughts
Back in Action is one of those run-of-the-mill Netflix action films that is stale and overdone. However, the humour and the action sequences are enjoyable and the actors share great chemistry. It ends up being more entertaining than other films of the genre on the platform, but at this point, the bar seems to be too low to count.
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