Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx are back in action in, well, Back In Action, the new action comedy movie that began streaming on Netflix today.
The film was directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief, Baywatch), and Gordon co-wrote the script with Brendan O’Brien. The production faced trouble in April 2023, when Foxx was forced to leave the shoot due to a medical emergency, which the star later revealed to be a brain bleed and stroke. But after a long, bumpy road, the movie is finally here. And it brings all the action that is promised in the title.
But just in case plane crashes, minivan car chases, and motorcycles being thrown at bad guys isn’t enough action for you, the Back in Action ending also teases a sequel. But will there be a Back in Action 2 movie?
Read on for a break-down of the Back in Action plot summary, the Back in Action ending explained, and what we know about the possibility of a Back in Action sequel.
Back in Action plot summary:
The movie opens “Fifteen Years Ago,” where we meet CIA agents Emily (Cameron Diaz) and Matt (Jamie Foxx). They are in the middle of a mission for their boss and friend, Chuck (Kyle Chandler). The mission? Retrieve a “key” that acts as a master key to control infrastructure like power plants, dams, nuclear reactors, etc. In other words, your basic all-powerful MacGuffin. Emily and Matt get caught trying to retrieve the key from a bad actor named Gor. They make a dramatic escape, involving a plane crash and parachuting to safety.
We learn during this opening scene that Emily and Matt have been seeing each other, and the Emily is pregnant with Matt’s child. After they make their dangerous escape, they decide, for the safety of the child, they will retire. They let everyone assume they died in the plane crash, and start a new, quiet life in the suburbs.
Cut to the present day. Matt and Emily have two children, a teenage daughter named Alice (McKenna Roberts) and her younger brother Leo (Rylan Jackson). Their kids don’t know about their parents’ former lives of espionage, but they suspect they are hiding something. Especially after their parents beat up some teenagers in a club for hitting on their underage daughter.
It all comes to a head when their old pal Chuck knocks on their door and tells them that an old M16 colleague, Baron (played by Andrew Scott) knows they are alive, sold them out to the bad guys, and now the bad guys are coming after them for the key. Before he can say more, a sniper shoots Chuck in the head, killing him. The bad guys are here, and now it’s time for Emily and Matt to skedaddle.
Matt confesses that yes, he took the key all those years ago and that’s why the bad guys are after him. He didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands, so he stashed it somewhere safe. Specifically, he stashed at his mother-in-law’s house. Emily’s mother, Ginny (Glenn Close) is an MI6 legend who lives in London. So despite the strained relationship between Emily and Ginny (Emily resents that Ginny prioritized her career over her parenting), they grab their kids from school and whisk them off to London.
Soon, it’s revealed that it’s not Baron who betrayed them, but Chuck. That’s right, he’s alive! He faked his death so that Emily and Matt would lead them to the key. He’s pissed because Emily and Matt’s disappearance ruined his career and his life. He’s out for revenge, and he’s also out to make a lot of money, by selling this all-powerful key to the highest bidder. He kidnaps Emily and Matt’s kids and steals the key.
Using their son’s fitness ring, Matt and Emily track their kids to the Tate Modern museum in London, which is having a private rich people event. There, Chuck plans to sell the key to the highest bidder. Matt and Emily, with some help from Ginny, Ginny’s boyfriend, and Baron manage to thwart Chuck before he can use the key to open up a dam on the River Thames and flood London. Hooray!
Back in Action ending explained:
After the day is saved, and the kids are safe, Matt and Emily return home to their life in the suburbs. Ginny and her boyfriend come with, at least for a visit. They all celebrate Alice scoring a goal in her soccer game, and it seems like she and her mom have repaired their relationship. In the final scene of the film, Matt and Emily get in their car together, where they are accosted by Baron.
Baron, who we now know is a good guy, tells Matt and Emily that Chuck’s body was never found, and MI6 suspects he is still alive. Baron needs Emily’s help to recruit a member of her family for a related mission. But it’s not her mom… it’s her dad.
“Your dad?” Matt asks, incredulous.
“Yeah,” Emily replies, sheepish. “Did I not tell you about him?”
With that, the movie ends. Obviously, it’s a set-up for a Back in Action sequel. Read on for what we know about a Back in Action 2.
Will there be a Back in Action 2?
A Back in Action sequel has not yet officially been greenlight by Netflix. But in an interview with Decider, director Seth Gordon said the movie is “definitely teed up for a sequel” and he “definitely has some ideas in mind.”
That said, Gordon noted that whether there is a sequel will be up to Netflix, not him. “I think they’re waiting to see how it does, you know, as they do,” he said.
At the same time, Gordon said, he’s not sure if Netflix’s new movie strategy will leave room for more films like Back in Action. “I’ve heard how they’re changing their appetite for the size of movies they’re going to make going forward,” Gordon said of the streamer. “It feels like we squeaked under the wire somehow.”
Of course, it’s not clear if Diaz would be willing to come back for a sequel or not, either. In an interview with Empire Magazine, the actress was reluctant to say whether or not she was “back” in Hollywood or not.
“I don’t know how I view it. It’s hard to say,” she said. “If I say it then it becomes this thing. I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to. I’m not defining anything. I’m just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment.”
At this point, we’d say a Back in Action sequel is still possible, but not very likely at the moment. But hey, if the movie is a big hit for Netflix, and if the paycheck for both Diaz and Foxx is big enough, it could still happen.
