by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
Matt (Jamie Foxx) and Emily (Cameron Diaz) are former CIA spies who are pulled back into the thrills of espionage when their secret identities are leaked. Now, with two children who do not know their parents’ former occupations, they must recover items from their past and reconnect with some old acquaintances.
The basic setup of Back in Action is similar to Spy Kids: A pair of kids learn that their parents used to be spies. There is even a similar line from one of the kids about how they didn’t think their parents were“cool” enough to be spies. But while Spy Kids was very much about the kids, this story primarily focuses on the parents. The opening sequence introduces us to the charisma and strong chemistry of the two main characters during their careers as spies. It does a decent job setting up the tone of a spy story that doesn’t take itself too seriously, before jumping forward to the time with the kids. The style then takes an odd shift for a while. It becomes a standard family comedy where the parents argue with the kids, and the kids are constantly annoyed at how embarrassing they find their parents.
These early sequences help flesh out the characters, allowing us to understand their lives as spies and parents. The problem is that while Foxx and Diaz do a good job in their respective roles, they don’t have much of a connection. Foxx plays his role like he’s in one of those quick-fire comedies that he is known for, while Diaz plays it more dramatically and seriously. At times, it feels like the two characters are in different movies; this mismatch of performances also comes across in McKenna Roberts and Rylan Jackson’s performances as the couple’s kids. This disconnect is a little distracting in the opening act, preventing the performance of the four lead actors from being completely compelling. To be fair to Diaz, this is her first role in a movie since 2014, so maybe she was a tad rusty. Given its title, it is appropriate that this movie is where Diaz returns to acting.
The largely unoriginal tone doesn’t help this character’s detachment from the plot. It ticks all the standard boxes of every spy action story and family dramedy seen over the last 30 years. This isn’t an issue in the opening sequences, where the characters’ lives as spies are established when we see them on a standard mission. The action in the opening also helps to draw you into things quickly. But after this, you expect something fresh to happen. The dialogue between the four family members could have been taken out of any modern family sitcom. It can’t even be salvaged by the attempts at genuine humor, because there isn’t any chemistry between the actors.
Things do pick up once the story enters the second act; the plot thickens and escalates quickly, as is customary in spy thrillers. A few slightly more original comedy moments in action sequences and unexpected revelations make things much more enjoyable. Most importantly, however, a new character is introduced: Emily’s estranged mother, Ginny Curtis (Glenn Close), who adds a bit of nuance to the family’s situation. There are more family moments as they journey to Ginny’s house in England, but they aren’t as generic and predictable as they do in the first act. There is also much more of a spy element to these moments, as the family goes on a road trip, but as fugitives. A lot of it is still very cringeworthy, and one part even made me want to reach for the mute button, but at least it’s something I hadn’t seen before, and a massive relief after the painfully derivative first half hour.
Close’s character also helps to keep things engaging with an interesting level of sophistication. She is mainly used in the wise mentor role, as she advises Emily and the kids on what they need to do. However, her performance is primarily wasted, as she enters the story without knowing the family’s situation, so her guidance is predominantly reactionary. Later on, she gets the chance to kick some butt and be a spy alongside Matt and Emily, but only very briefly. On top of that, she is forced to share screen time with her romantic partner Nigel (Jamie Demetriou), who must surely win an award for being one of the most insufferable comic relief characters ever put into a movie. The essence of his comedy seems to jump between hi thinking he is more competent as a spy than he is, and his surprise at his ability to do anything as a spy. None of it works, and there is no point in which I wasn’t profoundly irritated when his character was on screen.
Andrew Scott comes in for a cup of coffee as well, playing a slightly slimy character that is mainly worthless outside of one moment where he isn’t even on screen. There is an ongoing gag that his character has a thing for Emily, and it’s bit juvenile for a spy story. He does a good job with what he has to work with. However, I think he is miscast. Although Scott made his name as an actor by playing Moriarty in Sherlock, I have always preferred him to play more likable characters, so it was disappointing to see him wasted in this role.
The kids are also wasted for the most part, as they aren’t given much to do outside of the scenes where the family is talking. However, it is clear from the ending that they are planning a sequel, so it’s feasible they will be given a more prominent role in that, should it happen. Leo (Jackson) in particular is given a significant setup regarding his ability to be a spy.
Ultimately, the story suffers from too many characters, and many just don’t have much to do. It also gives off a vibe of trying to be a spy comedy but in reality, is significantly more of a regular spy story with a lot of jokes. The main antagonist is mostly forgettable, lacking motivation other than to do bad stuff for money. To the antagonist’s credit, one moment made me hate them when they referred to the Thames Barrier as the “ Thames River Barrier”; no one calls it that!
With this story’s rather paint-by-numbers format, you would not be surprised to hear that there is a twist. I didn’t guess it, although I did guess the type of twist it would be, because it’s precisely the kind you always see. I even thought to myself before it was revealed, “It’s about time for the twist, isn’t it?” It’s about as uncreative and uninteresting a twist as I’ve ever seen, and it adds nothing to the story.
The action here is pretty good and highly compelling, even if the combat gets repetitive after a while, though there are a few fun chases. Additionally, the film doesn’t feature many effects shots, which is good, because they look terrible. Even the green screen effects have a significantly fake look to them. Perhaps with such a stacked cast and abundant elaborate sequences filmed on location, there was no money left for the effects.
Back in Action doesn’t do anything new, either as a spy story or a comedy, and it’s somewhat inept in some places. There aren’t enough laughs to make it worth watching as a comedy, and the story is far too straightforward to be as enjoyable as a spy story. The acting is decent, but no one stands out or gives a performance that is anything more than doing what needs to be done for the paycheck, which is so odd, considering how many big stars are in the film. It does have enough fun action and enough comedic moments to not be considered awful, but you will be disappointed if you are looking for something more than that.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Back in Action is currently streaming on Netflix
You can read more from John Tillyard, and follow him on Instagram