FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW:
THE ROCK TEAMS UP WITH THE TRANSPORTER, THIS FAST & FURIOUS SPIN-OFF IS AS FUN AS IT SOUNDS!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** out of 4
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Dwayne Johnson (The Scorpion King, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Rampage) and Jason Statham (The Transporter trilogy, Crank 1 and 2, The Expendables trilogy) join forces (whether they like it or not) to stop an enhanced anarchist from altering humanity forever in Hobbs & Shaw, spin-off of the long-running Fast & Furious franchise and the first film in the series not to feature Vin Diesel and/or Paul Walker since 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The film is directed by David Leitch (John Wick trilogy, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) and features Johnson and Statham reprising their roles from the previous films as tough but lovable DSS agent Luke Hobbs and former British Special Forces agent turned assassin Deckard Shaw.
Since the release of the first film back in 2001, the Fast & Furious franchise has always been successful at the box-office, but it wasn’t until 2011’s Fast Five when the series really took off. It managed to become so much more than just a bunch of street racing with hot babes being draped across cars, and tough guys drinking Corona, with an action/adventure heist tone and some ridiculous stunts and action sequences while still keeping the spirit of its predecessors to an extent with some equally awesome follow-ups like 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, 2015’s Furious 7, and most recently The Fate of the Furious in 2017.
Now, we have the first spin-off film of the franchise (Though it’s debatable whether or not Tokyo Drift counts as a main installment) focusing on two of the best aspects of the later films…well, Hobbs & Shaw. And it pretty much delivers exactly what it promises in all the best ways.
It is like Avengers: Endgame where it’ll hit you hard on an emotional level? Absolutely not. But you know what? That’s okay. It’s an over-the-top and completely unapologetic, dumb action movie and a gleeful throwback to 80s and 90s action films, cheesy one-liners and crazy stunts, and all.
What started off as a series of movies about street racing has now become Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham battling Idris Elba (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pacific Rim, The Jungle Book (2016) as a cyborg, Tom Cruise wishes for this kind of madness in the Mission: Impossible movies.
Sometime after the events of The Fate of the Furious, a group of MI6 agents attempt to retrieve a virus that can be programmed to decimate humans from a terrorist organization run by the ruthless Brixton Lore with advanced cybertronic implants giving him superhuman abilities. However, the MI6 leader Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby-Everest, The Crown, Mission: Impossible: Fallout) injects the virus into herself as a dormant carrier and has now become a walking time-bomb.
In order to find Hattie and the virus, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw are forced to work together and stop Brixton’s plot to use the virus to alter and “enhance” humanity and turn everyone into cyborgs like him. So, a wild goose chase begins with cars, high-tech motorcycles ripped straight from RoboCop, drones, and some bickering from our unlikely protagonists, ultimately leading Hobbs and Shaw to an unexpected place…Hobbs’ family.
The film also stars Eiza González (From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, Baby Driver, Alita: Battle Angel) as Madam M, Eddie Marsan (V for Vendetta, Mission: Impossible III, Deadpool 2) as Professor Andreiko, and Helen Mirren (Excalibur, The Queen, RED 1 and 2) reprising her role from The Fate of the Furious as Queenie Shaw.
Overall, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw may not offer the same moral about family that was carried over from its predecessors but as an enthusiast for dumb, mindless popcorn fun that embraces its absurdity like Commando, Die Hard, and Speed, it’s stupid action movie thrills in all the right ways. The plot is undoubtably rehashed from other action films most notably Mission: Impossible 2 but for a movie like this the bad plot is kind of beside the point and acts as a set-up for these spectacular action sequences.
The film somehow manages to get even crazier than some of the previous Fast & Furious installments, including the chase in Los Angeles with the drone from the seventh film. Hobbs & Shaw has Idris Elba as a cyborg supervillain as previous discussed with a high-tech transforming motorcycle, a bunch of drones, a super computer that controls Elba, and a final battle in which The Rock fully embraces his native culture…I’ve been waiting for one of his movie characters to do this.
It isn’t nearly as sophisticated or taken seriously as something like the Bourne franchise, but it doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence either like the Michael Bay Transformers movies, it’s the right amount of stupid and over-the-top action that never gets tiring. Hobbs & Shawreally is the type of movie that you sit down in the theater with some popcorn, turn your brain off, and just enjoy two hours of wild car chases, stunts, and of course Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham kicking ass.
However, as exciting as the action sequences are there is something in the film that arguably shines brighter, its leads. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are absolutely hilarious together and a ton of fun to watch whenever they’re on-screen, Johnson as the tough brute with a heart of gold and Statham as the suave but tricky British assassin both of which are basically paying homage to buddy-cop movie tropes with very entertaining results.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw gives exactly what it promises, cars, sexy babes, over-the-top action sequences, and Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham that is sure to please fans of the franchise and fans of cheesy action movies. It may also be a sign that perhaps doing a Fast & Furious movie in space might not be such a bad idea after all.
From the blog www.moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com
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