Jessica Biel co-stars in director Sam Hargrave's action movie based on the Mattel toys, which throws up some good action setpieces but doesn't imbue the brand with much meaning.
Plus IconTodd Gilchrist
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Apple TV As audiences have seen with films like “Barbie,” intellectual property yields the best results when it’s mined with some intellect. “Matchbox: The Movie” feels more like a stopgap between “Fast and the Furious” installments — and not necessarily the good ones — than a deeply authentic adaptation of Mattel’s 73-year-old toy brand. John Cena, an alumnus of both “Barbie” and the last two “Fast and Furious” entries, serves as the glue between brand identity and blockbuster potential as a spy who enlists his car-obsessed middle-school friends to help clear his name, while director Sam Hargrave (stunt coordinator and “Extraction” film series helmer) stages setpiece after setpiece around a script that unfolds with algorithmic precision.
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