Review: in 'Matchbox: The Movie', John Cena steals a nuclear warhead, drags his childhood friends into a CIA mess — and Mattel's toy cars end up as little more than extras
The 'Extraction' director delivers competent chases in Apple TV's action comedy, but the toy that gives the film its name barely shows up in the story.
Foto: Apple TV (via TheWrap)'Matchbox: The Movie', which premiered Friday (Oct. 9) on Apple TV, opens in 1998 in a small American town: young Sean has a crush on Aimee, a mechanic's niece, dreams of a fancy car to impress her, settles for the Matchbox miniature and gives up on everything when his father announces a move. Cut to the present, and Sean (John Cena) is an undercover CIA operative, fresh off stealing a nuclear warhead from a warlord. Told to lie low by his handler (Danai Gurira), he heads home for the funeral of Aimee's uncle and reconnects with the old gang.
The plot kicks in when the friends are drugged, wake up on a plane and find themselves accused of stealing the bomb: Aimee (Jessica Biel) is now a race-car driver, Crosby (Sam Richardson) runs heavy machinery, his wife Charmaine (Teyonah Parris) flies the local traffic helicopter and Ted (Arturo Castro) teaches high school chemistry. It's a fun setup, and the cast commits: Richardson gets the best reactions, and Biel gives Aimee's grief real weight. Sam Hargrave, a former stuntman and director of both 'Extraction' films, delivers a few spectacular crashes and a final chase that is the film's highlight.
In our view, the problem is identity. Written by David Coggeshall, of 'The Family Plan', the film treats the Mattel brand as a veneer: the cars appear in only a few sequences, the jokey tone drains the danger from the action and several gags are cringe-worthy. TheWrap's critic called it a genial, 'amusingly useless' time-waster, and that's fair — 'Matchbox' belongs on the shelf next to 'Red Notice' and 'The Gray Man': enjoyable while it lasts, forgotten the next day. Cena, at least, keeps proving he was born for the kind of hero who takes a beating and cracks a joke at the same time.
For those who grew up with the cars, the nostalgia of the friend group works as a good hook; for anyone hoping for a toy-box 'Fast & Furious', it runs out of gas. Score: 5.5/10
