Back in action movie review

After her role as a nasty foster mother in the musical “Annie,” Cameron Diaz announced her departure from the film industry around ten years ago. When she married her husband Benji Madden in 2015, the Californian said she wanted to focus more on her family life, which had been neglected. The once highest-earning Hollywood actress pushed forward a number of business ideas in the following years, for example launching her own organic wine brand – and at some point realized that she was missing some of the work on the film set. So it didn't take much persuasion to lure her in front of the camera again. Especially since “Every Damn Sunday” co-star Jamie Foxx joined her in “Back in actionHe promised “a lot of fun” at his side and even arranged a telephone call with NFL football legend Tom Brady, who gave Diaz first-hand tips on how best to return from his self-proclaimed retirement.

The spy comedy by comedy specialist Seth Gordon (“Baywatch”) is now marking its comeback, which, however, was ill-fated for a long time: the filming in London was overshadowed by the discovery of an unexploded bomb from the Second World War, and there were also money thefts on set – Jamie Foxx's longer hospital stay also caused further delays. However, none of this made Cameron Diaz doubt her decision; instead, she is currently involved in other projects such as the Jonah Hill comedy “Outcome” – and the problems behind the scenes can also be seen in the Netflix production, which was postponed by several months not on. “Back in Action” offers downright carefree, if a little too straightforward, action entertainment.

Cameron Diaz is back after ten years - and harmonizes perfectly with Jamie Foxx!

Cameron Diaz is back after ten years – and harmonizes perfectly with Jamie Foxx!

In a delicate mission, the two CIA agents Matt (Jamie Foxx) and Emily (Cameron Diaz) manage to get an ICS key, which serves as a powerful weapon for cyberterrorism, out of the clutches of the Belarusian gangster Balthazar Gor (Robert Besta). to steal. On the flight home, the spy couple actually want to toast Emily's positive pregnancy tests, but after a scuffle, the plane, which was hijacked by enemy agents, crashes. Matt and Emily decide to take advantage of the opportunity to fake their deaths and start a family using false identities.

15 years later, however, their civilian cover is blown: together with their beastly teenage daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts) and nerd son Leo (Rylan Jackson), they have to flee from the henchmen of Balthazar Gor, who is desperate to get the well-hidden cyber weapon back in his possession want to bring violence…

Two stars who harmonize wonderfully

Former secret agents in family stress – a not new but grateful premise: “Back in Action” spins the major marital problems from “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005) – and delivers a whole range of successful gags through behavior routines that simply cannot be switched off. The multi-talented parents find it increasingly difficult to explain why Matt can converse with a craftsman in fluent Russian or how they found out that Alice isn't hanging out with a friend to study, but rather at a disreputable disco to party. The tech nerd Leo, who relies on health trackers, is simply smarter because he relies on two-factor authentication everywhere.

Director Seth Gordon and co-writer Brendan O'Brien (“Bad Neighbors”) don't just focus on such compromising situations in family life, with Cameron Diaz as the slightly over-the-top mother and Jamie Foxx as the grounding calming force harmonizing perfectly with each other. Instead, they add two more playful co-stars who – because the story soon moves to London – score points with somewhat tired but still hilarious Brit clichés: after his brilliant performance in the touching loneliness drama “All Of Us Strangers”, the Irishman embodies it Andrew Scott plays a wonderfully buttoned-up MI6 agent who is brusque and shady towards his colleague and has an ardent love for football.

Character actress Glenn Close kills the bird with her role as the agent's mom!

Character actress Glenn Close kills the bird with her role as the agent's mom!

But the one who shoots the bird (in the literal sense) is the character actress Glenn Close (“The Nobel Prize Winner’s Wife”), who appears dapper in a tweet jacket, vest, boots and with a rifle as Emily’s defensive ex-agent mother Ginny. With a deliciously snobbish, landed gentry attitude, she resists hugs, but in return she offers the grandchildren gin. However, a joke character like her useless “toyboy” and secret service apprentice Nigel (Jamie Demetriou), who has to admit defeat to Leo himself in target practice with a throwing star and who defies all the stereotypes of British (film) secret agents, comes across as a bit over the top.

There is enough humor, while the simple story with its somewhat tiring constant chase hardly hits any snags. The action scenes are mixed: the opening with a plane crash over snow-covered mountain peaks is overflowing with mediocre green screen and CGI effects. The final, quite exciting motorboat chase on the Thames, which is accompanied by numerous motorcycle crashes in central London, is much more confident: Here the stunt team was able to demonstrate its undoubted skills much more impressively. “Back in Action” provides humorous entertainment, so we're happy to see the sequel promised at the end.

Conclusion: Cameron Diaz's comeback was quite successful! The chemistry in the illustrious cast of characters is right and the humorous spy comedy delivers many accurate punch lines. Only if the plot is thin can the possible sequel be taken a step further.