Part action, part comedy, here comes a Mark Wahlberg movie that is both typical for this actor, but also something you likely saw (or close to) in the past. That said, its 2023 and almost everything has been done already, so the real question is this. Is it well done this time? Is it fun? And the answer is yes.
The movie take a bit of inspiration in True Lies but put its own spin on family road trip comedy with some "We are the Millers" vibe, while injecting some decent action sequences in there.
Having a runtime of 2 hours make sure the movie put enough emphasis on the familly relations and developing its characters, wich can be a definite plus, but at the same time i felt the movie dragged a tiny bit in the first half. Maybe 10-15 minutes could had been cut. But it didn't detract from my enjoyment.
Mark Wahlberg is definately in pretty solid shape still, wich make his character completely credible, but he ain't no martial artist so seeing him go toe to toe with Lateef Crowder (a Copeira expert) did showcase some of his shortcoming. That said, that scene was meant as a mix of comedy and action and not to be taken too seriously so for most peoples who are not martial arts afficionados, it should not be a problem. The rest of the action including gun scenes were well done.
Michelle Monaghan is also pretty solid in her role as the mom of the familly. Charming and charismatic. The kids also got to have enough screen time and developement that they felt usefull and interesting in the story. Every character pretty much as its own arc.
Overall its a movie that i taught was pretty enjoyable on a first watch. It is a mix between comedy and action but at the same time since it never fully commit to either side, you can't say its a super funny comedy or a big action movie. It is a bit of everything and it makes for a good story tough.
Ultimately not every movie is meant to be watch multiple times and considering Apple TV+ has a pretty limited selection of mainstream original movies (Ghosted being one of the few great ones), it is a welcome addition that both casual viewers and cinephile should enjoy.
