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Barbie has a lot to answer for. Since the huge success of Greta Gerwig’s subversive take on the iconic fashion doll, toy companies have been desperately trying to find ways to turn every child’s plaything into the next movie hit. But for every Barbie, there is a lot of…bargain bin Kens wearing Hawaiian shirts that no one ever wants to buy. In short, there are a lot of movies that are the exact opposite of the critical success story that Barbie delivered in 2023, but that doesn’t mean audiences still don’t flock to watch them when they are emblazoned across the top of one streaming service or another. That is exactly the case with Apple TV’s new #1 movie, Mattel’s latest toy movie, Matchbox: The Movie, which stars John Cena in a high-octane action adventure movie that has proved streaming movies don’t need to please critics to be a huge success.
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In the last several years, the amount of “bad” movies making their way to the top of the streaming charts has increased massively. Movies with low review scores on Rotten Tomatoes – from audiences as well as critics in many instances – are just as likely to find success on streaming they probably wouldn’t attract if they were released in cinemas. When it was originally announced, director Sam Hargrave’s Skydance Media-produced movie was instantly met with eyerolls for coming hot on the heels of several other toy movies that were all announced within weeks of each other. Now Matchbox: The Movie has brought the ’90s car toy line revving into homes and straight onto the watch lists of many Apple TV subscribers who just can’t resist clicking on that flashy poster appearing on the streamer’s homepage – even if many seem to be regretting it afterwards.
Matchbox: The Movie Has a Strong Cast, but Style Over Substance Story
If you are looking for a film that brings in plenty of star power, then Matchbox ticks that box with ease. Cena is joined by Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris, Danai Gurira, and Corey Stoll. Hot the heels of his success with Netflix’s Extraction movies, Hargrave should know a thing or two about making an action-packed movie that can pass a couple of hours, just don’t expect this to be a clever Barbie movie for adrenaline seekers. Instead, many have called it a generic action movie that happens to have the name of a toy brand in the title but only manages to connect the two with a lot of forced scripting. The plot of Matchbox focuses on a group of middle-school friends who have an avid love of Matchbox cars and call themselves the “Matchbox Gang” – see what they did there? – and as adults they have grown up to build cars that mostly resemble the ones they used to play with. When Cena’s once-group leader returns to town as a compromised CIA agent, the gang end up embroiled in a race across the world to save it from a missing nuclear warhead.
If this all sounds like it should have Vin Diesel behind the wheel, then it might not surprise you to know that several reviews wasted no time in calling it “an uninspired Fast & Furious rip-off” on its way to a 25% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience reviews have been a little kinder, but the movie is currently still languishing in “rotten” territory with a 55% score at the time of writing. However, for everyone calling it “the most generic thing ever,” there is someone else hailing it as “a great dad-fternoon movie that makes as much sense as any ’80s action movie.” Perhaps it all depends on how you go into the movie. Sit down ready to disengage the logical part of your brain and just strap in for a breezy ride of convoluted plot twists and flashy stunts and just like those who have sent Matchbox screaming to the top of the chart, you could enjoy the nostalgic trip back to playing with toy cars in the back yard.
Is Matchbox really a toy movie, or just a globetrotting action movie using a recognizable name? Will you be checking it out on Apple TV? Let us know in the comments.
