‘Matchbox: The Movie’ Begins a Grim Era for Hollywood
David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz are two of the producers of Sam Hargrave’s Matchbox: The Movie, an adaptation of the popular Mattel IP of the same name. They now run Hollywood’s biggest media conglomerate, Skydance, a company that owns some of the country’s most significant assets and makes Disney’s acquisition of the 20th Century library seem tame by comparison. There’s lots of uncertainty surrounding the merger, even more so after Warner Bros. was hastily swallowed up by Paramount. If Matchbox: The Movie, the first official post-Skydance takeover of Hollywood film, is any indication, we’re in for a very long era of creative bankruptcy.
[Warning: spoilers for the film are discussed below.]
Thrilling practical chases can’t even save Matchbox: The Movie
It’s almost miraculous that Sam Hargrave’s skills as an action artist remain intact in a movie that feels as if it was written (and conceived) by an algorithm instead of a human being who understands what makes these blockbusters function as pure, unadulterated popcorn entertainment.
Throughout Matchbox’s bloated 126-minute runtime, the only moments of genuine excitement occur when Hargrave and his crew stage a bevy of genuinely death-defying practical chases, including one where a massive truck was driven off a 200-foot bridge (for real) and blew up. It’s one of the most impressive, jaw-dropping stunts ever put to film.
I’m not joking. The exhilaration of watching the camera follow the truck as it drives off this massive bridge is second to none. It’s the type of stuff that can only be accomplished by someone who fundamentally understands the mechanics (and emotion) of a given action sequence and knows how to shoot and choreograph stunts in ways that are not only effective but incredibly playful.
PG-13 limitations might hamper Hargrave’s craft, compared to the R-rated (insane) bloodbath of his Extraction duology, but his work is unmatched. The fact that the action in a movie that isn’t good is this incredible is itself a testament to the man’s singular talent, as someone who has always tried to push the limits of what Hollywood can do to enthrall moviegoers.
Skydance’s action movie with nothing else to offer
If only Ellison and Kreiz knew how to make everything else work as well as Hargrave cares about his action, because there isn’t a single scene beyond those incredible setpieces where Matchbox: The Movie feels like something you’d willingly watch.
If Hargrave weren’t the genius he is, I might not have bothered. As much as this critic is a fan of John Cena’s work as a movie star, he phones it in terribly as CIA agent Sean Walker. His character is being hunted by the agency’s incoming director, Mosier (Corey Stoll), after allegedly stealing a warhead that he said he successfully delivered. It turns out his second-in-command, Helen (Danai Gurira), stole it to destabilize the transition so she can lead the CIA instead of Mosier, whom she describes as “weak.”
The plot makes very little narrative sense. Nothing is explained in detail; it’s all a surface-level excuse to get from one set piece to the next. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the movie didn’t spend so much time attempting to develop stakes and a sense of camaraderie between Sean and his childhood friends: Aimee (Jessica Biel), Crosby (Sam Richardson), Charmaine (Teyonah Parris), and Ted (Arturo Castro). He reunites with them after the death of Uncle Smalley (Bill Camp), the person who introduced all of them to the joys of playing with Matchbox cars.
Ah, yes, if it weren’t for the incessant references to Mattel’s Matchbox line of toy cars, you wouldn’t even know that Matchbox: The Movie should theoretically be about, well, the cars? Is that it? What should a Matchbox movie actively accomplish beyond endless car chases? Why is there such an insistence on trying to draw texture for characters that don’t have any?
Matchbox is a line of toy cars. There are no characters, just cool cars. The movie should, theoretically, respond to that lack of human beings by staging endless (and brainless) action scenes, right? Because why should I care about the core characters when David Coggeshall’s screenplay isn’t giving me a reason to?
The thing is, perhaps a movie like this would’ve worked if it wasn’t so busy riffing on infinitely better movies and filmmakers. The film’s first sequence, set in 1998 Cartersville, Ohio, is an obvious ripoff of Steven Spielberg. Hargrave isn’t hiding it either. I mean, a kid gang on bikes, a suburban neighborhood, an elderly mentor, fractured families, and camera movements worthy of Janusz Kamiński? It’s all there, clear as crystal.
Afterward, it turns into a Mission: Impossible x Indiana Jones x Terminator 2: Judgment Day truck chase crossover that is neither interesting nor cinematically exhilarating. The actors have little to no chemistry, especially Cena and Biel, who look visibly (and audibly) bored in a movie that could’ve been fun if they’d cared just a little more.
Matchbox: The Movie film rating and final thoughts
Only Golshifteh Farahani gives Matchbox: The Movie signs of life as an arms dealer whose allure is so palpable one can almost feel her presence beyond the screen. She’s always been one of the most underappreciated actors working today, but she has delivered three of her most nuanced performances by working with Hargrave. It’s a collaboration I hope will continue for a long time, even if the film she’s in isn’t worthy of her—or anyone else’s—talents.
David Ellison might have been lucky to get such talent for this film, but Skydance’s optics of “broad-appealing entertainment” have backfired spectacularly this time around. If this is how this combined company will make “content” to compete with everyone else, then consider us screwed, because without Sam Hargrave at the helm, Matchbox: The Movie would’ve been a far bigger disaster than it is.
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