Matchbox: The Movie – Movie Review
As we wait in lieu of Fast X Part 2, Skydance has given us Matchbox: The Movie, an automotive action film based on the toy car brand owned by Mattel. No, not Hot Wheels, which is getting its own movie from Warner Bros., but the other one: Matchbox. Now, there’s probably a joke in here somewhere about how the recent Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. through the Paramount merger seems to mirror Mattel’s acquisition of Matchbox to eliminate Hot Wheels’ competition. But maybe the joke is on us, as we realise more and more that Hollywood really is just one big corporate demolition derby. Despite that cynical backdrop to Matchbox: The Movie’s release, the film itself is actually a lot of fun!
The film follows the Matchbox gang, a group of childhood friends who bonded in middle school over their shared love of Matchbox cars as they played with an extensive collection at Smalley’s Garage. Now grown the group included Smalley’s niece Aimee (Jessica Biel), an ambulance officer with a passion for racing, Ted (Arturo Castro), a high school chemistry teacher, Crosby (Sam Richardson), a construction worker, and his wife Charmaine (Teyonah Parris), a helicopter pilot and news correspondent. But one member of the gang, Sean (John Cena), left town years ago, leaving his feelings for Aimee unspoken and failing to give her the limited-edition 1969 Camaro Matchbox car he had intended as a parting gift.
Years later, and now an undercover agent for Blackthorn, a covert CIA subbranch, Sean returns home following the death of Smalley, only for his homecoming to take an unexpected turn when the nuclear warhead he was recently tasked with escorting on his latest mission goes missing under mysterious circumstances. With suspicion falling on Sean, the entire Matchbox gang is drawn into an international conspiracy, launching them into a globe-trotting espionage adventure filled with high-speed car chases, explosive confrontations and dangerous enemies.
Whilst it’s pretty laughable to call this a Matchbox movie as aside from the cars, there’s very little connecting it to the toy brand. However, despite being in essence purely a generic spy thriller with a globe-trotting conspiracy and automotive action, it really is elevated by the ragtag Matchbox gang of unlikely heroes. And with Sam Hargrave (Extraction, Extraction 2) behind the camera, that familiar formula gets a welcome injection of adrenaline.
Hargrave has made a name for himself with his visceral, hands-on approach to action filmmaking, and that physicality is on full display here. The car chases have weight, the stunt work is impressive, and the set pieces are refreshingly grounded. There’s a tangible sense of chaos that makes the action genuinely engaging, distinguishing Matchbox from the increasingly weightless spectacle of modern blockbusters. It might be a corporate IP calculation on paper, but at least someone has put some real horsepower and heart behind it.
And the real highlight is the cast. The formula is simple: one part macho man John Cena, one part love interest Jessica Biel, and three parts comedic relief courtesy of Arturo Castro, Sam Richardson and Teyonah Parris. Now that’s probably one too many comedic sidekicks, but each brings something different to the table. Castro embraces the absurdity, Richardson excels at awkward humour, and Parris provides a more grounded presence amid the chaos. While their characters could use more room to develop, the ensemble’s chemistry lends the film much of its charm. There’s an easy familiarity to their banter that makes this friendship feel lived-in, even when the plot veers into increasingly ridiculous territory.
Additionally, Cena is well suited to the action-hero role, bringing the requisite physicality and a welcome degree of self-awareness. Biel makes for an engaging counterpart, in her first film role since 2017, although their relationship could have used a little more breathing room. Special mention must go to Golshifteh Farahani, who is absolutely entrancing when she appears on screen, bringing a captivating presence to a role that could easily have faded into the background. Kristofer Hivju is another highlight, and I would happily have watched more of him. Sadly, Danai Gurira is criminally under-utilised, making particularly poor use of an actor with so much to offer.
Ultimately, Matchbox: The Movie is hardly a masterpiece. Its plot is familiar, its characters sometimes feel assembled from the spare parts of a dozen other action movies, and its connection to the toy brand amounts to little more than a marketing exercise. Yet, thanks to Hargrave’s kinetic direction, impressive stunt work and a charismatic ensemble, it delivers a thoroughly entertaining espionage adventure about a gang of old friends thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Not every movie needs to reinvent the wheel, even when the whole exercise is probably designed to just sell more toy cars.
Matchbox: The Movie is now streaming on Apple TV+
