Film reviews: Cameron Diaz is Back in Action with Jamie Foxx in predictable Netflix feature
After a decade out of the cinematic limelight, Cameron Diaz is back in action with Jamie Foxx in, you guessed it, Netflix’s Back in Action.
Diaz stars alongside Jamie Foxx in this action caper that landed on Netflix on January 17.
Film News Blitz’s David Bason gives his account of Back in Action.
What is Back in Action about?
Diaz and Foxx star as former CIA agents turned married parents Emily and Matt in Back in Action.
Struggling to keep tabs on their teenage daughter and stop their 12-year-old son from playing video games after hours, the married couple is drawn back into their life of violence and espionage when bad guys land at their suburban door.
Director Seth Gordon is in charge of the action, and Andrew Scott, Kyle Chandler, and Glenn Close round out the cast.
The viewing experience
Now, the thing with Netflix is that, unlike traditional feature releases, you don’t rush to the cinema to catch the latest output from the streamer.
For instance, watching Back in Action coincided with a well-overdue decluttering of Christmas decorations.
This might seem like I wasn’t ready to pay attention to what was on screen.
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No, I wasn’t prepared to focus on tidying.
What is good about the majority of Netflix’s feature film content is that it doesn’t chase complication or originality to extremes that require strict focus away from the rest of the household it shares.
However, this can contribute to pitfalls.
The Verdict
Back in Action is an entertaining enough way to pass just under two hours.
Diaz and Foxx have great on-screen chemistry and the film ticks along like a well-oiled machine.
The issue is Back in Action offers nothing new to the action-romance genre.
The action is slick but unoriginal, and the humour is predictable, as are the plot twists.
Diaz and Foxx do their best and Scott uses an ounce of his limitless talent to play a straight-laced, stern British agent.
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In summary, Back in Action is good for some low-stakes home viewing, with little more to offer and without the call to make a repeat viewing.
It follows a Netflix trend of applying seasoned Hollywood stars to tried and tested genres but offering nothing new for the viewer.
Instead, it feels as if relying purely on Diaz and Foxx’s presence and familiar story beats will be enough to lure audiences to tune in, just as Netflix tried with Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg in The Union.
It’s a shame because with a little more nuance, the premise of Diaz and Foxx as retired spies returning to action to protect their family could be more than good, but great.
Having just launched on Netflix, time will tell whether the star appeal at the core of Back in Action will do enough to warrant a sequel, which is definitely the intention given the final scene is desperately setting things up for a continued story.
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