Review: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, an offshoot of the mega-successful franchise, is a big, shiny and expensive toy. It's the kind of film that one calls a guilty pleasure, though one should be proud rather than sheepish about the pleasure derives from such a spectacular diversion. It does everything it needs to do, frequently very well, and makes no bones about its intention to entertain with startlingly exciting action sequences.
It helps, of course, that the film is fronted by three of the most charismatic leading men in Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Idris Elba; an always exciting and minxish presence in Vanessa Kirby; and the involvement of David Leitch who, after John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, can arguably be heralded as the best action director of his time. Hobbs & Shaw, which smartly plucks two of the most engaging characters from the Fast & Furious franchise, and places them in the centre of a film that often plays like an old-school 80's action buddy comedy.
Kirby's rogue MI:6 agent Hattie is the reason that special agents Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham) are forced to work together. She has ingested a super virus to prevent it from landing in the hands of Elba's Brixton Lore, a robotically-enhance villain and self-professed "Black Superman." Hattie also happens to be Shaw's sister, which provides him with incentive to track her down before the virus goes off in 72 hours. Not that he nor Hobbs need much reason to pummel any bad guys that come their way; if anything, the bad guys offer them a breather from exchanging vicious quips and beating up on each other. That's the entirety of the film - people beating each other up, tossing off wisecracks, and smashing up cars, copters and what have you. What more can one ask for?
A coherent plot, for one thing, but that's neither here nor there. Hobbs & Shaw doesn't necessarily need one for the joy is in watching Johnson and Statham bounce off one another and involve themselves in several jaw-dropping action set pieces. Though it runs at over 2 hours, the film does have a leanness about it that strips everything down to the bare essentials. If the film does possess a bit of fat, it's towards the end, when the film hammers home the underlying theme of family, which is a sweet if superfluous gesture.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Directed by: David Leitch
Written by: Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren, Eiza González, Eddie Marsan, Cliff Curtis, John Tui, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart, Rob Delaney
