‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ was directed by David Leitch and is a spin-off to the Fast and Furious franchise starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham returning as Agent Luke Hobbs and criminal Deckard Shaw. In this departure from the main Fast and Furious storyline, Hobbs and Shaw are sent on a covert mission to recover a super deadly virus, with its host being none other than Shaw’s sister Hattie played by Vanessa Kirby. Hobbs and Shaw will need to settle their rivalry fort the fate of the world, as a secret organization being led by ‘Brixton’, a robotically enhanced human played by Idris Elba, is planning to use the virus to wipe out humanity.
This movie is ridiculous in all the ways a summer blockbuster should be. ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ isn’t trying to give you a very intricate and deep story, it knows what it is, and is bold and proud to give it to you. Director David Leitch gives you every action set piece you could possibly imagine, and when you think they can’t do more, they do. There are some fantastic fight scenes, car chases (not really shot in a ‘Fast and Furious’ tone in mind but you know… cars). But the big standout and the reason you will love this movie is with Johnson and Statham’s onscreen chemistry and back and forth with each other.
Both of the actors are trading insults back and forth through the most absurd of action sequences. It makes zero sense for 75% of the time but you don’t care because of how great these two are. Idris Elba while not really involved in the first act also gives a great performance and is a believable roadblock and challenge for both Hobbs and Shaw in smarts and strength. There are also a couple cameos that have been very well hidden from the public that is fantastic and new to the franchise. Where I feel the movie was lacking in wasn’t the action or one-liners, but for 2/3rds of the film, it feels like you are watching a Mission Impossible spin-off more than a Fast and Furious spin-off.
Most of my issues with ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ are coming from the 2nd act, where It feels like every line of dialogue that wasn’t a joke was exposition to overexplain the plot of the film. It bounces from exposition scene to jokes, to fight, and repeat. The issue is those moments sacrifice the 3rd act having as big of an impact as it should because you’re eyes have glazed over from overexplaining and pointless action sequences. I would have liked to have seen the films runtime cut from the middle of the film, and more emphasis on the 3rd act which is when Hobbs and Shaw FINALLY shift into Fast and Furious mode. That said, the movie has a great finale battle between Statham Johnson and Elba and Samoan rage fighting that is a ton of fun to watch.
Overall, Hobbs and Shaw are funny and a great Summer movie to turn your brain off and have fun with. Die-hard fans of the franchise may be disappointed to see less of what they love about the original films, but the chemistry with Johnson and Statham as well as plenty of action and laughs to go around, this is worth a watch and I would recommend it!