Back In Action Review – ‘Slight but fizzily watchable’

You must think about that Again In Motion started with its casting, and labored every part else – that apt title, the corresponding premise – backwards from there. As a result of these three phrases apply most on to the movie’s A-list star: Cameron Diaz, returning to the display screen for the primary time in over a decade, on hiatus since 2014’s Annie remake. Again in motion, certainly.

As a comeback automobile, Seth Gordon’s (Horrible Bosses) quick and frothy action-comedy isn’t precisely a stretch for Diaz – from Charlie’s Angels to Knight And Day, she’s lengthy mixed outlandish motion and affable laughs with ease. None of that potential has been misplaced in her ten-year absence, making Again In Motion (no Looney Tunes right here, Bugs Bunny stans) one thing of an easy-going delight – a slight however fizzily watchable spies-turned-parents-turned-spies-again romp.

Having left the CIA after discovering she’s pregnant mid mountain-top mission (a high-octane opening set-piece with some ropey CGI), Diaz’s Emily settles into home life along with her field-partner-turned-life-partner Matt (Jamie Foxx, himself considerably again in motion; post-production, he fell critically unwell, and has largely been recovering since). However 15 years later, they blow their cowl in a nightclub punch-up that goes viral (YouTube title: ‘BOOMERS WRECK DANCE PARTY’), forcing them again into the world of espionage, this time with youngsters (McKenna Roberts, Rylan Jackson) in tow.

It’s a easy however strong premise that Diaz and Foxx assault with gusto, each within the pleasantly crunchy battle scenes – typically soundtracked by Rat Pack and soul hits – and of their comedic chemistry. Emily and Matt clearly enjoyment of resurrecting their adrenaline-fuelled life after a decade-plus of domesticity (“I promote customized puzzles on Etsy!” argues Diaz, making an attempt to persuade that she couldn’t probably be a spy), fist-bumping mid-mayhem, and deploying petrol pumps and Mentos and Coke as weapons. That vitality interprets; watching Diaz kick guys within the head, to the sounds of ‘Ain’t That A Kick In The Head’, is a welcome deal with for generations raised on Charlie’s Angels.

Past the intelligence antics, Again In Motion is finally a parenting comedy – particularly as soon as it hops the Pond to London, the place Emily reunites along with her estranged mom Ginny (Glenn Shut) and Ginny’s weirdo toyboy Nigel (Jamie Demetriou, the comedic spotlight). There’s a smidge of substance in that generational exploration, however by no means sufficient to crush the enjoyable.

You’ll see the third-act ‘twist’ coming a mile off, and Andrew Scott and Kyle Chandler are wasted in insubstantial roles. However Again In Motion succeeds in its mission assertion. Whereas Diaz and Foxx might do that of their sleep, it’s a pleasure having them out of hibernation.