'Matchbox The Movie' Review: An Entertaining, But Forgettable Action Spectacle
Apple aims to take the Mattel IP to new heights in ‘Matchbox: The Movie’, an action film based on their popular miniature car toy line. However, while this genre film offers plenty of entertaining set pieces, it does very little with the beloved IP at its core to justify its use of it.
‘Matchbox The Movie’ centers on a spy named Sean (John Cena) who reunites with his group of childhood friends after decades apart. However, the joy of their reunion comes to a screeching halt when they find themselves square in the middle of an international spy plot and must work together in order to save the world from destruction. In addition to Cena, the film sports a terrific cast that includes Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Arturo Castro, Danai Gurira, Teyonah Parris and Corey Stoll. This talented cast plays a crucial role in making this action film worthwhile, especially as it veers heavily into the more cliche territory.
Cena has proven to be a reliable and magnetic action star for the past decade and that continues to be on full display. The charm and physicality he brings to the role here helps elevate the subpar material he’s given, sharing an easy going, natural chemistry with the rest of his supporting cast as well. The supporting players who round out Sean’s group of close friends all turn in game, lively work, their charm and collective chemistry making their decades long friendship feel lived-in and authentic. Biel is especially good, playing Sean’s childhood crush Aimee, channeling a gravitas and palpable energy that lends very well to the material and her overall relationship with Cena’s character. The core group of friends are easily the highlight of the film, injecting this high octane adventure with enough charm and heart to keep it afloat when the film begins to take on some water.
The film is helmed by director Sam Hargrave, who previously shot the two very impressive ‘Extraction’ films for Netflix starring Chris Hemsworth. His inspired action sensibilities fit the material like a glove, making every action set piece visceral, propulsive and wholly enveloping. The focus on mostly practical stunt work feels wonderfully old fashioned, resulting in car chases and hand-to-hand combat sequences that have the tactile, adrenaline-fueled and playful pop they require, only slightly hindered by some lackluster CGI. It’s abundantly clear he’s squeezing every last drop he can out of the film’s sizable budget, but his passion and propensity for more grounded action filmmaking continues to make him one of the most exciting action filmmakers working today, a visual storyteller that deserves more opportunities to show audiences what he’s truly capable of.
However, though writer David Coggeshall’s script attempts to weave the Mattel IP into the story, the results are underwhelming at best. While the film has palpable heart, especially in regards to the core friendship shared between the central characters, a group of friends who call themselves “The Matchbox Gang”, the IP feels mostly side-stepped aside from some minimal flashbacks and brief visual nods. If the toys were simply removed from the scenes they’re minimally in, it wouldn’t fundamentally change a single thing about the film, an issue in and of itself. There are far too many more creative avenues the film could’ve explored utilizing the toys that could’ve easily made for more inventive and immersive storytelling. Instead, what audiences get here is more of lazy, uninspired mashup of ‘The Fast And The Furious’ and ‘Mission: Impossible’.
The storytelling here is also a sizable issue, especially as the film teeters more heavily into its espionage plot involving a nuclear threat. The film has scattered moments where it attempts to be more self-aware and lean into the absurdity of its inherently silly premise, but these moments are too few and far between, resulting in a film that takes itself far too seriously for its own good. Anything involving the team’s mission to stop the global threat is riddled with cliches and generic storytelling, each development and reveal more heavily telegraphed than the last. Making matters worse is that Gurira and Stoll are given thankless, underwritten roles tethered to this threat that leave them stranded with very little to do other than spew trite lines of dialogue uttered in seemingly every other spy film of its kind.
‘Matchbox The Movie’ coasts off the charm and likability of its central cast in addition to some well-staged and orchestrated set pieces that provide plenty of blockbuster entertainment value. However, the film’s generic and conventional storytelling coupled with its apathetic use of the IP allows it to become forgettable streaming fare. The joy in playing with the Matchbox cars comes in the creativity and imagination one imbues on them, a playfulness this creative team needed far more of to make this an action-packed gem.