“Matchbox” Trailer Fills a “Fast & Furious”-Sized Gap

By Kip Mooney • On • In Trailer Trailer Comments Off on “Matchbox” Trailer Fills a “Fast & Furious”-Sized Gap

You'd be forgiven for being confused after seeing the trailer for Matchbox: The Movie. Yes, it's inspired by the line of toy cars that Mattel absorbed in the '90s (despite competing with their own Hot Wheels line). But no, it also has almost nothing to do with them, other than the main quintet played with them as kids. And yes, it stars John Cena in a globe-trotting adventure with ridiculous stunts. But no, it's not a Fast & Furious movie.

Believe it or not, the ongoing gap since 2023's Fast X makes this the longest period of time there hasn't been a Fast & Furious movie out. So to the rescue(?) comes Apple TV, delivering yet another expensive action comedy directly to TVs and smaller screens worldwide. In just the last three years, they've premiered such immediately forgotten titles as The Instigators, Ghosted, and two Family Plan movies.

Now comes Matchbox: The Movie, which features a likable cast – including Jessica Biel, Teyonah Parris, and the very funny Sam Richardson and Arturo Castro – caught up in an espionage plot, on the run from the likes of Corey Stoll and Danai Gurira. This will of course give them opportunities to race and smash up cool cars, giving the Matchbox IP as tenuous a connection as possible.

The whole thing reeks of desperation. But honestly, if the movie was called something else, didn't explicitly reference Matchbox cars, and was coming to theaters, it could be a fun time. It has a good cast and a fun premise. But a movie this big and expensive shouldn't feel so disposable.

Matchbox: The Movie premieres exclusively on Apple TV on October 9.

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About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.