‘Matchbox: The Movie’ review: John Cena keeps things moving in this action comedy

What you see is what you get in this action comedy based on the Matchbox toyline by Mattel. Extraction’s Sam Hargrave has made a fun film, which while not high on imagination provides an adequate two hours of entertainment.

The film opens in Chartersville, Ohio in 1998. A young Sean Walker goes to meet his buddies Ted, Crosby, Aimee and Charmaine, at their hangout, Smalley’s garage. He has a gift for Aimee, a blue 1969 Chevy Camaro Matchbox car after she says it is her dream car. He plans to give her the car and declare his feelings for her.

He chokes when the time comes and when he gets home, his father tells him they are moving to a different town. We move ahead 28 years with Sean (John Cena) involved in a high-speed chase across the Sahara Desert. Sean is a spy working with a super secret branch of the CIA and is now dashing across the desert to deliver a nuclear warhead to a drug dealer after stealing it from a warlord. Go figure.

After giving his handler, Helen (Danai Gurira) some hairy moments, he completes his assignment and Helen says he can take some time off. Back in Chartersville, Aimee (Jessica Biel) is still a gearhead, Ted (Arturo Castro) is a high school science teacher, while Crosby (Sam Richardson) and Charmaine (Teyonah Parris) are married.

When Sean sees a notice about Smalley’s (Bill Camp) passing, he decides to return to Chartersville to pay his respects. The reunion does not go as planned when his boss Mosier (Corey Stoll) calls to say the nuclear warhead has not reached. Since Sean most definitely handed over the weapon, there is some dirty business at hand.

There follows a mad dash across the world in search of answers. The gang is involved simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are the usual suspects, including the eccentric SVR agent, Grigor (Kristoffer Hivju) the beautiful tinkerer of nuclear weapons, Robbie (Golshifteh Farahani), the well-dressed muscle, Mustafa (Randeep Hooda) and the mandatory dressing up for the casino.

Cena is his usual solid, likeable self, while the friends’ bickering and chemistry make for easy viewing. The chases are fun with planes, choppers, and a mini-van brought into service. Ted chasing the bad guys on a mean motorbike trying to spin-reload a shotgun one handed like the Terminator and saying “Arnold made that scene so much easier,” guarantees a chuckle. Matchbox: The Movie works as the perfect popcorn film; fun while it lasts and immediately forgotten.

Matchbox: The Movie is currently streaming on Apple TV