Diaz's comeback is another one of the streamer's mediocre action flicks

Marketed as Cameron Diaz's comeback after 10 years of retirement, Back in Action arrives with an aura of goodwill. As a goofy spy caper, it's right in Diaz's wheelhouse, inspiring affectionate nostalgia for films like Charlie's Angels. However, if you're familiar with Netflix's track record with original action movies, you should know to temper your expectations. So lightweight it's practically nonexistent, Back in Action is full of phoned-in performances and forgettable action, stringing together a formulaic plot with limp jokes about parenthood and generational divides.
In a kind of reverse Mr. & Mrs. Smith situation, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx star as Emily and Matt, a pair of former CIA agents who quit the business 15 years ago. Since then they've settled down and had two kids: adorable 12-year-old nerd Leo (Rylan Jackson) and snarky teen Alice (McKenna Roberts), who is constantly fighting with her mom. You can understand why Alice wants to rebel. Not only are her parents embarrassingly conventional suburban normies, but they're also very obvious liars, which doesn't exactly foster familial trust. When questioned about why Matt can speak fluent Russian to a repairman, he and Emily fumble their way through a flimsy cover story about meeting in the Peace Corps. The kids are skeptical, and they'll soon discover the truth when their parents' past comes back to haunt them.
Like several other 21st century action flicks, Back in Action's plot revolves around a missing gadget ("the key"), which can magically hijack the world's weapons systems and power grids. A bunch of enemy spies think Emily and Matt stole it, placing their civilian identities in danger.
I'm happy to embrace this type of silly high-tech plot device in something like the Mission Impossible franchise, where the story functions purely as a framework for jaw-dropping action sequences. But Back in Action's fight scenes and car chases are uniformly bland, and "the key" is just one unoriginal idea among many. Most of the cast are clearly just here to cash a check, including beloved Irish character actor Andrew Scott (droning his dialogue as a slimy British spy) and Kyle Chandler as Emily and Matt's jovial CIA boss. The only cast member who really makes an effort is comedian Jamie Demetriou, playing an absurdly airheaded sidekick. It's a fun little role for a guy who (unlike every other adult in the cast) is actively building his career rather than resting on his laurels.
Like
- Despite being an action comedy it's neither funny nor good at action
- Everything from the plot to the main characters' personalities is totally generic
- The main cast are definitely not bringing their A-game
Dislike
- British actor Jamie Demetriou is memorably funny in a quirky sidekick role
Director Seth Gordon made his name with comedies like Horrible Bosses and Baywatch, and Back in Action offers a watered-down take on the same brand of humor. The heroes and villains are all cartoonish idiots, while the kids represent mildly amusing generational archetypes. That means numerous already-dated "okay boomer" jokes at Emily and Matt's expense, as the children roll their eyes at their corny parents. We see occasional glimpses of edgier, more distinctive humor (for instance, a bleak CIA punchline about Emily missing the thrill of starting coups in South America), but the "relatable" family stuff quickly gets old.
You may wonder how our protagonists can simultaneously be hyper-competent secret agents and total buffoons, but honestly, that hasn't stopped other action comedies in the past. Plenty of spy genre pastiches thrive on similar material (Spy; Austin Powers), the difference being that they introduced idiosyncratic characters in a heightened setting. Back in Action lacks that level of personality, dropping its heroes into paint-by-numbers undercover scenarios. Any episode of the TNT heist series Leverage could easily outshine this film's grand finale, which takes place at a flashy overseas landmark.
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These days, I think we can all discern the difference between "real" action movies released via Netflix (Rebel Ridge; The Killer) and the service's catalog of star-studded but vacuous ersatz blockbusters. Back in Action belongs to the latter category: an unmistakable example of disposable background viewing. Its jokes barely muster a chuckle, and its action sequences blur together, all backed by a now-obligatory soundtrack of ironic music choices. (One fight scored to Etta James' "At Last" was particularly cringe.)
You can watch all this in a state of near-total inattention, neither enjoying nor explicitly hating the experience with 20% of your brainpower online. Conveniently, this puts you in an ideal state to passively absorb Back in Action's rich array of product placement, from Cameron Diaz taking Clearblue pregnancy tests and namechecking Amazon products to a gag involving Diet Coke: appropriate material for a film that already resembles a TV commercial, full of dazzlingly shiny cars (shout out to the family's trusty Land Rover!) and bright lighting. Not exactly a showcase for Diaz's fondly remembered comedic charm. Does it really count as a comeback if everyone immediately forgets it even happened?
Premieres: Friday, Jan. 17 on Netflix
Who's in it: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Glenn Close, Jamie Demetriou
Who's behind it: Seth Gordon (director/co-writer) and Brendan O'Brien (co-writer)
For fans of: Mediocre straight-to-streaming action movies like Red Notice, Ghosted and The Gray Man