| Back in Action | |
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 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Seth Gordon |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ken Seng |
| Edited by | Peter S. Elliot |
| Music by | Christopher Lennertz |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget |
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Back in Action is a 2025 Americanaction comedy film directed bySeth Gordon from a script he co-wrote withBrendan O'Brien. It starsJamie Foxx andCameron Diaz as twoCIA operatives who are pulled back into espionage after 15 years living incognito with their two children, when their secret cover is blown.Andrew Scott,Jamie Demetriou,Kyle Chandler, andGlenn Close also star in supporting roles.
The film was released byNetflix on January 17, 2025.
CIANOCoperatives Matt and his pregnant fiancée Emily are tasked by their superior and friend Chuck to secure the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) – a device that can control any electronic system, from thePolishKGB agent-turned terrorist Balthazzar Gor during his children's grandiose birthday party.
Matt and Emily manage to steal the device and escape to a rendezvous point. However, on their flight home, the crew ambushes them for the Key as they are on Gor's payroll. The duo manages to neutralize the flight crew and barely escapes the plane crash. Realizing someone must have fed the flight crew information of their Key, the pair decide to go off grid.
Fifteen years later, the now married Matt and Emily reside inAtlanta under new identities while trying to care for their children Leo and Alice. This is until a filmed brawl involving the couple inside anightclub attracts the attention of Chuck, as well as Gor's Polish–Belarusian mercenary group Volka, whose men shoot Chuck while he is trying to warn Matt and Emily.
Matt and Emily manage to lose the mercenaries, taking the children with them from school, before catching a flight to England. There Matt had hidden the ICS Key inside themanor belonging to Emily's estranged mother Ginny Curtis. She herself is a formerMI6sniper who leads anoffshoreNGO.
Arriving inHeathrow, the family is pursued by both Volka and MI6, led by Emily's ex-boyfriend Baron. While they had hidden their former identities from their children, the couple have to reveal the truth to them once they witness their parents fending off Volka's mercenaries and evading the pursuing MI6.
When Matt and Emily find the ICS Key, Volka's mercenaries raid the manor. Ginny fends off against a few of Volka's operatives, but her partner Nigel is injured. Chuck arrives, revealing that not only he faked his death, but also is working with Gor and Volka. This is in revenge against Matt and Emily, as their presumed deaths led to him being fired. Matt and Emily are forced to surrender the ICS Key to save their kids, but they are knocked out and Chuck's men take Leo and Alice anyway.
Using Leo'ssmart ring, they track them down to ablack-tie event inTate Modern,London, where he plans to sell the ICS Key to the highest bidder. As a demonstration, his tech assistant Daphne uses the Key to hack the power station, causing a brief blackout across London, then theThames Barrier to forcibly open its floodgates. Matt and Emily infiltrate the museum, knocking out Chuck and Gor's guards while searching for their children.
The couple are followed by Baron and MI6, who also arrive to apprehend Chuck. While Baron's agents capture the Volka operatives, the couple, with assistance from Ginny, pursue Chuck. He intends to escape London with Leo and Alice through the Thames Barrier. Nigel spots Daphne and crashes his van into hers, rendering her unconscious and securing the ICS Key.
Ginny guides Nigel to close the Thames Barrier while Emily commandeers a boat, and she and Matt catch up to Chuck. Leo and Alice jump into the water, as Emily and Matt subdue Chuck. They leave him on the boat as it crashes into the now closing barrier, presumingly killing him.
Rescued by both the police and MI6, the family rest in relief as they reconcile with Emily's mother. As the entire family attends Alice'ssoccer game, Matt and Emily are met by Baron. He informs them that Chuck's body has never been found, suggesting he may still be alive, and proposes they recruit Emily's father, whom Matt is unaware of.
In addition,Fola Evans-Akingbola appears as Wendy, Baron's MI6 colleague.
In June 2022, it was reported thatCameron Diaz was coming out of retirement for aSeth Gordon and Brendan O'Brien penned action comedy entitledBack in Action, also set to starJamie Foxx. Beau Bauman was revealed to be producing for Good One Productions with Seth Gordon producing for Exhibit A and Foxx, Datari Turner, O'Brien and Mark McNair executive producing.[3] In August 2022, Foxx spoke about persuading Diaz (whose last film prior to her retirement in 2014 wasAnnie, which he also starred in) to join the cast, tellingEntertainment Tonight that "Cameron is such an incredible force and she has done so much in this business" and that he asked her "'Do you wanna have some fun? Just have some fun!' And I think that's what brought her to it...we're so happy that it's happening and looking forward to it".[4]
In November 2022,Glenn Close andKyle Chandler were added to the cast.[5] In February 2023,Andrew Scott, McKenna Roberts, Rylan Jackson andJamie Demetriou joined the cast.[6]Principal photography took place in London from December 2, 2022, to March 9, 2023.[7][8] In late February 2023, Diaz shot scenes at theRiver Thames.[9] Filming inAtlanta began on March 28 andwrapped in late April.[10] In mid-April, while Foxx was hospitalized for a medical emergency,body doubles were used to film his remaining scenes.[11] The opening scene showing acityscape was filmed inLjubljana,Slovenia. Netflix spent $207.2 million producing the film, which came down to a net cost of $158.9 million after UK tax incentives.[2]
While Gordon and O'Brien were solely credited with the screenplay, various contributions were made byAndrea Berloff, Matteo Borghese, Joel Church-Cooper, Adam Cole-Kelly,Dana Fox, Paul Fruchbom, John Gatins, Joe Nussbaum, Cassie Pappas, Lennon Parham, Sam Pitman, Ellen Shanman, Laura Solon, David Stassen, Jessica St. Clair, Victoria Strouse, and Lillian Yu.[12]
Back in Action was released byNetflix on January 17, 2025.[13] It was originally set to be released on November 15, 2024, before being pushed to its current release date.[14]
The film amassed 46.8 million views in its first three days, giving it the biggest opening weekend for an English-language Netflix film sinceThe Adam Project.[15]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 28% of 95 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "It's good to have Diaz and Foxx back, but they deserve a warmer welcome than this rote action-comedy."[16]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[17]
Christy Lemire ofRogerEbert.com gave the film one out of four stars and wrote, "Back in Action isn't as obnoxiously soulless asRed Notice, but it's firmly within that subgenre of glossy, globetrotting action pictures you can stream while you fold your laundry. It all feels so cynical."[18]
Richard Roeper of theChicago Sun-Times gave it two and a half out of four stars, writing, "Director Seth Gordon (Four Christmases,Horrible Bosses) knows how to film fast-moving comedies with star appeal, and Diaz (who hasn't lost an ounce of onscreen charisma) and Foxx are terrific together, but wouldn't it have been lovely if they had tackled more creative and challenging material? Trading quips while engaging in high-wire action sequences that defy all credibility is the movie equivalent of ordering fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner when there's a whole world of more interesting menus out there."[19]
