'Matchbox: The Movie' Review: A Soulless Action-Comedy Running on Empty
By Dan Bremner - October 10, 2026
The new Apple TV Original action-comedy based on the series of Mattel toy cars. As a British person, Matchbox really wasn’t a thing here, we had Hot Wheels, which I have fond memories of playing with as a child. Without that nostalgia for the Mattel toy brand, I was hoping this would be another fun high-concept adaptation in the vein of 2023’s smash-hit Barbie. It was far from that. Matchbox: The Movie is a generic, algorithm-fuelled streaming action-comedy that’s light on originality, fun and any real charm. A handful of half-decent set-pieces aside, this is about as bland as streaming film gets. A soulless hybrid of both Mission: Impossible and Fast and Furious.
The connection to the actual Matchbox brand and toys is extremely weak and tenuous. The miniature die-cast cars play almost no meaningful role beyond a bit of early nostalgia bait or some superficial career links for the characters. It genuinely feels like a generic action film that was retroactively branded “Matchbox” for pure corporate synergy rather than any genuine adaptation. Unlike Barbie, the toys here have no distinct conceptual identity or lore to build on, so the whole thing just sits there feeling like a forced IP cash-grab.
The plot itself is completely empty, by-the-numbers and formulaic. It functions as a dull Fast & Furious knockoff mixed with the standard streaming spy/action-comedy template: globe-trotting, missing nuclear warhead, framed CIA agent who has to enlist his old friends. Everything unfolds with algorithmic predictability, prioritising set pieces over anything remotely interesting. There is zero originality and no compelling reason for this film to exist beyond pure IP exploitation. If this is how Mattel plan to adapt their properties after Barbie's success, then we are in big trouble.
It feels like everyone involved: director Sam Hargrave, writers David Coggeshall and Matt Westbrook, the cast, the entire crew was just collecting a pay-check. The film aims for nothing ambitious whatsoever. The result is a pile of minor, noncommittal flaws that slowly accumulate into something worse than a bold failure. It never once justifies why a Matchbox film needed to be made in the first place, and it doesn't even have the decency to have fun at the same time.
The characters are flat and underdeveloped, with almost no emotional core to speak of. Most of them feel like brief character summaries or pure archetypes. Among them are “the construction guy” who never wants to leave town, “the wife” who just wants adventure, and so on. The emotional appeals, especially the childhood friendships and the long-held crush, come across as generic, strangely forced and almost impossible to invest in. The whole group remains oddly stuck on their middle-school selves decades later, which only makes the dynamics feel even more artificial. A talented cast (John Cena, Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson amongst others) is largely wasted on material that gives them nothing to work with.
John Cena in particular feels like he’s on complete autopilot, plasticky and stuck in the same familiar mode he’s been doing for years. Which he has proven time and time again he can break out of and be a real screen presence. Jessica Biel, in her first film role since 2017’s Shock and Awe (don't worry, I don't know what this is either), is often flat and unconvincing as a racing enthusiast beyond the actual driving stunts. She makes little real effort, which is a shame given how long it’s been since we last saw her on screen. She turned up, took the big streaming pay check and ran for the hills. Hard to blame her.
The villains are weak and the stakes feel constantly bland. Oh, a nuclear bomb that may get in the wrong hands? Cool. What a novel premise. The main antagonist in Danai Gurira’s crooked CIA handler is poorly written and gets defeated far too easily. Despite all the globe-trotting locations and big-budget set-pieces, the overall urgency has roughly the energy of a direct-to-video Steven Seagal outing. Nothing ever feels threatening or important.
At around two hours and six minutes the film is also noticeably bloated. It feels padded out for algorithmic runtime more than any storytelling necessity. There are stretches, particularly in the second half, that drag badly and make you wonder why they didn’t just cut the thing earlier. At one point I thought the film was wrapping up with its final set-piece, so I felt instantly queasy and visibly shaken when I looked at it and saw there was still somehow forty-five minutes left of the runtime. It felt like one of the longest films I've seen in recent memory.
The action itself is competent, sometimes even impressive when it comes to practical stunts, but it’s constantly diminished by the jokey tone and the home-streaming format. Sam Hargrave stages practical stunts, chases, crashes and fights with real energy, yet a lot of it feels undersold or slightly messy in the flat editing and presentation. Big set pieces simply lose impact when you’re watching them on a television for the first time rather than a cinema screen. The action prioritises pure spectacle over character or plot at every turn, and it is exhausting.
Matchbox: The Movie is a generic, algorithm-driven, corporate-synergy action-comedy that has almost no meaningful connection to its toy source material, flat characters, weak stakes, missed jokes and a cynical pay check energy throughout. The practical stunt-work and vehicle mayhem are solid and occasionally impressive, but they are nowhere near enough to save a film that feels like soulless streaming filler from start to finish. One of the worst films of the year.
'Matchbox: The Movie' is streaming now on Apple TV, following its release on October 9, 2026.
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Dan Bremner
Writer
Dan is a writer from Guildford with a love for all things genre, schlocky, and thoroughly '80s, and a part-time philanthropist.
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