Directed by Seth Gordon
Written by Seth Gordon & Brendan O’Brien
The luxury of Netflix is they have so much money that they can basically produce anything they want. They’ve attracted big name actors and directors across the years, and while they have yet to break through to win that coveted Best Picture Academy Award, they have produced many stellar films from The Irishman to The Power of the Dog to Roma and more. However, while they have achieved artistic success, they’ve also achieved commercial success with viral movies and television shows that EVERYBODY watched. In between is a bunch of schlock that really highlights the problems with streaming and specifically the Netflix model of producing movies to attract and retain subscribers. The rub is that’s their job. They are in business to make money and therefore their directive is to maximize those earnings.
So that brings me to Back in Action, the new action comedy from the studio/streamer starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. Foxx and Diaz play married spies who retired from the business after an op gone wrong and finding out they were pregnant. Fifteen years and two children later, they are living the suburban life with two teenagers who fail to find their parents cool. But when a video of them beating up some creeps at a club where they caught their daughter goes viral, they are confronted by their past once again, forced to flee their idyllic undercover lives and once again flex their spycraft muscles to protect their family and survive the onslaught of baddies on their tail.
On the surface, Netflix and filmmaker Seth Gordon are hitting all the right beats in a film like Back in Action. The action comedy is a genre that used to excel at the box office, but now feels too slow for the big screen, being relegated to the small screen streamers instead. But while all the beats are hit here: big, charismatic stars, funny and compelling scenario, exotic international locale; the heart of the movie is seriously lacking. It’s not hard to put my finger to the pulse of why that is either, as Netflix’s assembly line of bad movies is the same time and time again.
It usually starts with a pretty underwhelming script. While the scenario itself is good, the devil is in the details and I cannot for the life of me understand why we can’t get compelling characters with any sort of depth, why the writers can’t seem to think of anything original. Additionally, as per usual, the movie looks like crap. There is nothing cinematic about the film. Instead, we’re treated to bland and straightforward blocking, bad CGI and no visual style or flair to speak of. They play to the middle of everything, which manages to create a visual experience that is completely unremarkable and forgettable the instant the algorithm has already chose the next auto-play title.
It’s great to see Cameron Diaz “back in action” after a decade long hiatus, as it is for Jamie Foxx after his surprising medical emergency a few years ago. These are two of Hollywood’s most bankable and charismatic stars. We also get to enjoy Kyle Chandler and Andrew Scott in supporting roles. The great Glenn Close even pops up. But none of it makes much of a difference as each are underserved in their roles, merely doing as much as they can with limited material. The real treat here is Jamie Demetriou in the comedic relief role of Nigel. All in all, however, Back in Action is a severely and aggressively average movie that is entertaining enough while watching it, but instantly forgettable. It’s exactly what Netflix wants to show you: something to keeps your interest, but doesn’t force you to think or reflect so you can move on to their next piece of content.
Corndog Chats 