Film Review: BACK IN ACTION (2025): Seth Gordon’s Action/Comedy is a By-the-Numbers Netflix Movie That Nevertheless Entertains

Back in Action Review

Back in Action (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Seth Gordon, written by Brendan O’Brien and Seth Gordon and starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, McKenna Roberts, Rylan Jackson, Kyle Chandler, Glenn Close, Jamie Demetriou, Andrew Scott, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Robert Besta, Bashir Salahuddin, Tom Brittney, Ben VanderMey, Jude Mack, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Tobi Bamtefa, Leela Owen and Cruz Hadley.

Director Seth Gordon has fashioned an entertaining, clumsy and loud new action/comedy titled Back in Action which takes its cue from movies like Knight and Day and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, only this new one is much lighter than those two pictures. Cameron Diaz of Knight and Day stars as Emily, a CIA spy who learns she’s pregnant with another spy’s baby as the movie begins. That other spy is Matt (the always charismatic Jamie Foxx) who looks at Emily’s pregnancy tests, all of which Emily declares she’s officially peed on. On a plane ride gone bad, the pilot is shot in the head and the plane crash lands with Emily and Matt presumed dead. Skip ahead 15 years later and the action-packed story line for Back in Action kicks in.

The big question mark here is whether Foxx and Diaz have any chemistry. I’d like to tell you they do and I honestly believe their scenes together are fun to watch but they seem more like friends hanging out than husband and wife except in the sequences where they risk their lives for one another. Their children in the movie, Alice (McKenna Roberts) and Leo (Rylan Jackson), are typically portrayed as teenagers who disobey their parents at times but remain loyal to their folks when the situation calls for it. Alice is a soccer player and Roberts plays her well. Leo helps lead his parents to their whereabouts when Alice and Leo are kidnapped by the principal heavy in the picture. Both Roberts and Jackson acquit themselves well in their roles as the kids.

Kyle Chandler plays Chuck who we see working with our heroes at the beginning but can see from a mile away that he will be up to no good as the plot progresses. Chandler’s character development is the primary problem with Back in Action. Chandler does a complete 180 from the opening scenes of the movie when he’s revealed as the villain and the movie is not realistic enough to make this plot twist plausible which, even in a movie like this where you check your brain at the counter when signing on, disappoints on some basic levels.

Tossed into the mix is Glenn Close as Ginny, Emily’s loving and brave mother. Close is one of our finest living actresses so to see her waste her talent in a by-the-numbers action picture is a bit disheartening yet Close seems to be having a blast on-screen so who can fault her from taking a role in a big-budget production such as this one? Close clearly has no problem doing projects outside of her usual Oscar-caliber ones so just go along for the ride and enjoy her screen time here.

Faring less well is the great Andrew Scott as a character named Baron who gets lost in the shuffle only to appear at the very end to possibly suggest his character may be back for a sequel. Given the probable success of the movie for Netflix, Scott would be wise to let someone else play this character next time out if he is written into a possible sequel.

There are many action scenes that entertain. From the plane crashing in the snow at the beginning to a chase on the water near the end, Back to Action‘s specialty is its action sequences. However run-of-the-mill they are, these scenes never become boring to watch and that’s a major plus for the film.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx are more successful individually than as a couple. Foxx does his usual routine in his heroic role here and it’s nice to see Diaz working again after a long absence from the screen. With only minimal chemistry together, though, the strength of the movie lies more in its action than in its romance.

Back in Action keeps the viewer watching thanks to the performances and action set pieces. This movie may be following a basic formula but director Seth Gordon knows what he’s doing in terms of pleasing mainstream audiences. Each action sequence is bigger and better than the previous one. It feels like Gordon took some inspiration from quality over-the-top movies like The Long Kiss Goodnight but Back in Action is much more family friendly than that previous action picture, for whatever reason. This new movie is all about family values and that’s an admirable quality that makes sense for this particular project.

Still, Back in Action is overlong and a bit sloppy in its execution. It goes back and forth with scenes that offer little realism. This movie is purely escapist entertainment that one must not expect to have any substance beyond the chase scenes, the basic family bonding sections and movie star romance that unfolds throughout the picture. If you can live with having to suspend disbelief then, by all means, there are so many worse ways to spend your time than watching performers like Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. It’s just a Netflix popcorn movie. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 6/10

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