The Fix (2026): Zachary Levi Trades the Cape for a Body Count
Disillusioned by the end of the war in Afghanistan, a group of disgraced, war torn ex-CIA operators set out to Tehran to take down a life changing score.
There are certain ingredients that will get me through the front door of an action movie before I've even checked the menu. Liam Neeson is one of them. Zachary Levi is another. Former CIA operators heading into Tehran chasing a fortune while carrying enough emotional baggage to make Air Canada charge an additional $600?
Okay. I'm listening.
"The Fix" takes a group of war-torn former CIA operators, throws them together after the disastrous end of their Afghanistan experience, and sends them into Tehran looking for the kind of score that can change a man's life.
It's essentially Ocean's Eleven if everybody in Ocean's Eleven needed therapy, body armour and probably an appointment with Veterans Affairs.
And you know what?
For a good chunk of the movie, it works.
Director Guy Moshe isn't reinventing the action thriller here. Nobody is going to walk out of this thing wondering whether cinema itself has entered a new artistic epoch. But sometimes I don't need Fellini with an assault rifle. Give me capable actors, dangerous people, a mission that's probably a terrible idea and enough bullets flying around to keep me from checking the clock.
"The Fix" can do that.
Zachary Levi plays Tucker, and this was probably the biggest surprise for me.
I like Levi. I've liked him for years. He's naturally charismatic and funny, and Hollywood has generally leaned into that side of him.
Not here.
This is a darker Zachary Levi.
And darker Zachary Levi looks pretty damn good.
There's an edge to him that we don't normally get to see. He's carrying the weight of what happened before the main story really gets moving, and Levi sells that without constantly reminding us, "Look everybody, I'm doing serious acting now!"
That's important because actors who are known for comedy sometimes go dark and apparently decide that acting serious means staring at walls like somebody just cancelled their Costco membership.
Levi doesn't fall into that trap.
Tucker still feels like a human being. He's simply a damaged one.
Then we've got Liam Neeson as Larry.
At this point, Neeson walking into an action movie is like seeing a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. You just feel better knowing he's there.
The man has spent roughly two decades convincing Hollywood that retirement is something that happens to other people. Give Liam Neeson a telephone, a grudge and fifteen minutes and somebody somewhere is having a very bad afternoon.
Here, though, the movie wisely gives him something a little different to chew on. Larry is the mentor figure behind these operators, and there's considerably more going on with him than simply waiting for Neeson to unleash the particular set of skills we've been watching since "Taken."
I liked Levi and Neeson together.
There is enough weight between their characters to give the action some meaning, and that's something a lot of modern action movies forget. Explosions are great. Gunfights are great. But if I don't care who's getting shot at, I'm basically watching a very expensive fireworks display.
And "The Fix" does deliver some good action.
It's violent, appropriately rough and generally keeps things moving. There's a gritty quality to the premise that works well with Levi's darker performance.
Unfortunately, every now and then the screenplay makes a character do something that causes my brain to pull the emergency brake.
There's one particular example involving the capture of a bad guy where nobody thinks to take the man's phone.
Come on.
You're experienced CIA operators.
Taking the bad guy's phone should be somewhere around Step Two.
Step One: Take his weapon.
Step Two: Take his phone
Step Three: Maybe don't leave him his wallet, car keys and complimentary Wi-Fi password either.
When movies manufacture drama by making supposedly highly trained people temporarily forget obvious things, I notice. And once I notice, I'm no longer in Tehran with Tucker. I'm sitting there wondering how a group of elite operators has apparently adopted the tactical philosophy of the Keystone Cops.
That's the kind of thing that separates a decent action thriller from a really good one.
The effects don't always help.
Most of the movie looks perfectly serviceable, but there are moments when the special effects start flashing the financial Bat-Signal.
"PLEASE SEND MONEY."
Nothing completely destroys the experience, but a few shots have that slightly under-budget sheen where your eyes notice something before your brain can politely ignore it.
And then we arrive at one of my personal cinematic grievances.
Subtitles.
Yes, I know. They're in Tehran.
Yes, I understand people in Iran aren't all going to start speaking English because Dan bought a movie ticket.
I comprehend geography.
But I don't like reading movies.
There. I said it.
I came to watch an action thriller, not sneak in two chapters of a novel while people are shooting at each other. If I'm staring at the bottom three inches of the screen, somebody could drive a tank through the background dressed as Elvis and I'd miss it.
Just talk English, people.
I'll suspend disbelief.
Hollywood has asked me to believe Vin Diesel can solve international terrorism using a Dodge Charger and the healing power of family. I can certainly accept somebody in Tehran speaking English for two hours.
That's not really a criticism of the filmmaking so much as one of my personal viewing quirks. Subtitle lovers can put away the pitchforks. I know you're out there.
All twelve of you.
Where "The Fix" ultimately lands for me is in that interesting middle ground between disposable action movie and something that occasionally reaches for more.
My ranking: 6.8/10.
There's a better movie hiding inside "The Fix," but the one we got is still a reasonably entertaining action thriller. Zachary Levi's darker turn was the standout surprise for me, Liam Neeson remains Liam Neeson—which at this point should probably be its own movie genre—and the action kept me invested despite some questionable logic, noticeable budget limitations and enough subtitle reading to make me wonder if there'd be a quiz afterward. Not a bullseye, but it hits the target often enough to earn a recommendation for action fans.
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