Matt and Emily are spies.
Well, they used to be. Let’s back up …
Fifteen years ago, the duo had just completed their latest mission: stealing a powerful technological MacGuffin from under the nose of a ruthless international terrorist. Ya’ know, secret agent stuff.
Matt’s ready to celebrate a job well done. That’s when Emily breaks the news: She’s pregnant. And Matt’s the father.
After getting over the initial shock, Matt’s got a whole new reason to celebrate. He’s always wanted a family. So has Emily.
However, a career in international espionage does not mix well with parenthood. Just ask Emily: Her MI6 agent mother was hardly part of her life. But Emily wants to be present for their child. As does Matt. So, after surviving one last round of deadly peril, including turncoat agents and a plane crash, they decide to leave their cloak-and-dagger professions behind.
Fast-forward 15 years, and Matt and Emily have settled into a quiet, suburban existence with their two kids. Matt coaches youth soccer. Emily sells puzzles on Etsy. The biggest challenge they face now is getting their son Leo to stop playing video games after bedtime. Or navigating their daughter Alice’s prickly teen years. And though they sometimes miss the thrill of their former lives, they wouldn’t trade parenthood for anything in the world.
But the spy life doesn’t let anyone go that easily. And when Matt and Emily accidentally expose their secret identities, old enemies come looking for revenge. The retired spies must return to action to protect their children, while hopefully keeping Alice and Leo in the dark about their former vocation.
Even for retired secret agents, that’s easier said than done.
Matt and Emily are dedicated parents. They give up glamorous careers to raise a family. They love and support their kids and each other. When their secret identities are revealed, and the bad guys attack, Emily and Matt protect their children at all costs.
Emily works hard to connect with her teenage daughter Alice. In part, that’s because Emily’s mother, Ginny, was barely involved in her life growing up. And Emily’s determined not to repeat those maternal mistakes. Initially, Alice seems to want nothing to do with her mom. But as their adventure progresses, their relationship starts to mend—as does Emily’s relationship with her mother.
We learn that even though Emily had cut off contact with Ginny, Matt kept Grandma in the loop, sending pictures of her grandchildren. And when Emily expresses frustration about Ginny, Matt quips, “Your mom is a piece of work, but she’s still your mom.”
Though Matt and Emily lie to their children about their past as spies, they do it in the hope that their kids will be able to lead normal lives. When their lies are eventually exposed, Alice and Leo question whether they really know their folks. “We’re your parents,” Matt and Emily respond. “That’s who we are.”
During an exhibit, a wall projection resembles a cross-bearing orb.
There are a handful of suggestive moments peppered throughout the film. For example, one gag has Alice and Leo hearing what they think are the sounds of their parents being intimate. (Actually, the married couple is sparring, but Emily invites her husband to take a shower with her after.) Ginny and her much younger boyfriend, Nigel, kiss passionately. Nigel tells Leo that his grandma “has a habit of keeping me up all night” before adding unconvincingly, “[with her] snoring.”
We learn that Matt and Emily had been sleeping together before their final spy mission and prior to their marriage. Emily takes several tests to confirm her pregnancy. A British spy is obsessed with Emily. Alice wears a revealing top to a club and kisses her boyfriend. A man kisses a woman’s hand. A couple remarks on the strength of the woman’s “inner thighs.”
We hear a few songs with suggestive lyrics.
As you might expect from an action flick about spies returning to their deadly trade, Back in Action packs a lot of violence. Matt and Emily dole out a lot of damage to the swarms of nameless mercenaries that get in their way. People are clubbed, kicked and stabbed while vehicles flip and crash. A couple of goons are set alight by a makeshift flamethrower. People are sucked out of a crashing plane to their deaths. Others get shot with bullets or tranquilizers. One man is winged by a bullet. Another appears to die in a boat explosion.
Despite this spate of violence, it’s accompanied by a surprisingly small amount of blood. There are one or two glimpses of the red stuff, but it’s kept quick and minimal. Once the film’s opening flashback wraps up, there’s not much death, either. In fact, the movie goes out of its way to tell us that Matt and Emily are purposefully not killing their enemies, even though they wouldn’t be shown the same courtesy. That’s admirable, but still, the ways Matt and Emily incapacitate their foes look quite painful nonetheless.
Elsewhere, a woman shoots a pheasant. Someone is tossed off a club balcony and crashes into a turntable below.
Unfortunately, Back in Action takes advantage of the language leeway its PG-13 rating allows. We hear one f-word, along with eight s-words. God’s name is taken in vain nearly 20 times, including one misuse of Jesus’ name.
“D–n” and “d—it” are heard. “H—” is used five times, as is “b–ch” (mostly in a club song). Other vulgarities we hear include “a–” and “a–hole,” “b–tard,” “pissed” and “crap.”
Someone uses a crude hand gesture.
After a successful mission, Matt requests champagne. Ginny pours a mezcal cocktail and asks her granddaughter if she drinks gin. Reference is made to a White Russian drink and the drug Ecstasy (the slang “Molly” is used). Emily has told her kids that “if you smoke pot, you get diarrhea.” A mother talks about drinking mocktails with her daughter. Underage teens party in a club with alcohol. Cigarettes are mentioned.
When Emily shows Matt her (many) positive pregnancy tests, she warns him, “I peed all over those.” They know that by giving up their spy careers, they will have to cut off contact with everyone in their lives. When Emily realizes that list of people includes her mother, she says, “That’s not a loss.” Later, Emily lies to her kids, telling them their grandmother is dead.
As mentioned earlier, Emily and Alice are in a rough patch. Alice’s computer password is “momsux.” Matt and Emily catch Alice at a club that she got into using a fake ID. When Alice complains that her friends’ parents let them party, Emily says, “Maybe their parents don’t love them.” Alice says her parents don’t like her boyfriend because he’s white—which prompts Matt to remind her that her mother is white.
Matt and Emily debate whether they should spy on their kids, especially as Alice has become more secretive. When they ponder sharing their own secrets about their former lives, they tell themselves that “good parents lie [to their kids] all the time.”
A car is stolen. Leo says that Diet Coke “blocks cancer.” A villain intends to sell a dangerous piece of technology to terrorists.
In many ways, Netflix’s Back in Action feels like a throwback action-comedy film. Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz turn in charming performances as spies turned suburban parents. The story is undergirded with a surprisingly sweet pro-family message. And while there is a lot of beat-em-up violence, there’s very little bloodshed.
Contrast that with last year’s The Killer’s Game, an R-rated action comedy which reveled in every gruesome kill (alongside other content concerns), and Back in Action seems almost quaint. But one flattering comparison does not a family-friendly movie make, and Back in Action has plenty of issues that may give parents pause.
Though the violence is mostly bloodless, it’s still abundant. There’s a lot of language, including an f-word and several abuses of God’s name. And some suggestive moments crop up throughout.
In terms of content, the film is a bit of a mixed bag. Parents will have to decide whether Back in Action should come in from the cold … or remain undercover.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
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