Matchbox the Movie” takes a child’s reunion around the world into a spy adventure. Now a CIA agent, Sean returns to his hometown in Ohio after the death of Aimee’s uncle, where he reunites with the old Matchbox Gang, Aimee, Crosby, Ted and Charmaine. Their sentimentality doesn’t last long. Soon, the friends are enmeshed in a CIA conspiracy of a stolen nuclear warhead and a scheme to wreck a peace summit in Budapest.
Accomplices, the four friends flee with Sean after falling in with an agency contact, Helen who has gone rogue. The group tries to clear its name with the aid of some international friends, while evading the CIA and chasing the warhead down the trail. The mission has plane escapes, car chases and changing allegiances but the core of the story is the gang’s new friendship and Sean’s unspoken affection for Aimee. In the final confrontation, the friends manage to thwart the attack but the threat lies in the fact that the warhead is connected to Helen’s proximity.
With its high-stakes action and nostalgic story of old friends meeting up and realizing their childhood connection hasn’t faded away even as the world comes to an end, the movie is a successful mix. It has a lot of spy intrigue going on and it’s a little twisty and turny at times, but the history of them all makes for a welcome middle. Post-crisis, the friends come back to Ohio with their names cleared and Charmaine and Crosby look ahead to a new life in Seattle. But the story is also personal and hopeful as Sean and Aimee finally have to deal with their unexpressed emotions, adding to the explosive scene.
