Hobbs & Shaw Review: Bloated Stupid Chaotic Fun
- naterichard98
- Aug 18, 2019
- 2 min read
DIRECTED BY: DAVID LEITCH STARRING: DWAYNE JOHNSON, JASON STATHAM, & IDRIS ELBA
RATED PG-13 FOR PROLONGED SEQUENCES OF ACTION AND VIOLENCE, SUGGESTIVE MATERIAL, AND SOME STRONG LANGUAGE
LENGTH: 137 MINUTES
The Fast & Furious franchise has never really sought out to be recognized as high-art or the smartest blockbuster in the room. A franchise that began as being a street car reskin of the classic 1991 Point Break, slowly morphed into one of the most bombastic, outlandish, and ridiculous franchise out there that completely delivers on the entertainment factor. It's also become one of the most successful film franchises in history, with the first 8 films making $5.4 billion combined at the worldwide box office, so it was only a matter of time before the franchise decided to tread into spin-off territory especially with the fan favorite characters of Hobbs and Shaw.
Hobbs & Shaw (or Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw if you want to be accurate) follows the buff yet charisma-laden Luke Hobbs having to team up with his rival, the suave Deckard Shaw along with Shaw's sister Hattie to take down the cyber-enhanced terrorist Brixton from unleashing a deadly virus.
A good thing to know before walking into Hobbs & Shaw is not to expect any sense of logic, this is the ultimate 'turn off your brain kind of movie'; the film is bloated at two hours and seventeen minutes and has a third act that unfortunately feels very tacked on, just to fill the runtime. The film is frankly a bit of a mess.
Though lucky for the audience Hobbs & Shaw does deliver in terms of it's entertainment value and that's mainly thanks to the dynamite chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham who both haven't lost a beat since their last appearance as the characters in 2017's The Fate Of The Furious. After stealing scenes in last summer's Mission: Impossible-Fallout, Vanessa Kirby proves that she can stand her own ground against Johnson, Statham, and Elba. Idris Elba seems to be having the time of his life in the villainous role of Brixton and proves to be a fairly memorable antagonist. The other actors and actresses unfortunately feel a bit wasted, especially Eiza Gonzalez and Helen Mirren, and while there are two other great surprise cameos there's no sign of Luke Evans' Owen Shaw.
David Leitch continues to prove he's one of the best go-to guys when it comes to directing a summer action flick and he is able to bring some of his style and flair to the film as well. Though first and foremost this is a Fast & Furious movie and the big action setpieces do feel a bit busy and at times too nonsensical.
Hobbs & Shaw is not some cinematic achievement nor is it trying to win any awards. It's a film that you have to take for what it is and that's mindless summer action and if you're ready for that, then you'll probably end up having a good time.
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