Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

By this point in the franchise, ‘Fast & Furious’ fans will know exactly what to expect from ‘Hobbs and Shaw’, and there’s just enough here that's fresh enough to warrant taking another ride with the series.

• Ashley Teresa

Read Ashley's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-fast-and-furious-hobbs-and-shaw-very-furious-not-so-fast

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Here’s the thing about the Fast & Furious franchise: it can be dumb fun. Every movie has the right to be entertaining even if it completely disregards physics and logic… As long as it establishes its tone from the start. You can’t make an action film where the main characters survive basically everything they shouldn’t and take everything seriously. It’s not that you can’t have that mix of tones (Furious 7 did it brilliantly), but that’s reserved for some of the best movies of the year since it’s not easy (at all) to balance so many different things. Hobbs & Shaw sets its tone in the first 10 minutes, and everyone knows what they’re getting themselves into. However, it didn’t quite work for me this time…

The Fast & Furious saga is an undeniable success, even more in my country where it constantly breaks box-office records. It possesses everything a popcorn blockbuster should have: tons of action (car chases, explosions, fights, shootouts), easy-to-follow plot, and simple character development. There’s no problem in leaving your brain at the entrance of the theater for a couple of hours and just have fun. Of course, Hobbs & Shaw is ridiculous. It’s completely absurd, it has no sense of logic, and it’s unbelievable how many physics-defying sequences occur. But that’s exactly what they establish in those first few minutes, so people just need to sit comfortably and eat that whole bag of popcorn while watching the most ludicrous action on-screen.

So, if the tone is well-balanced, why didn’t I enjoy it as much as the rest? People seem to be having tremendous fun (even critics who usually demolish this type of films are liking it), so I guess I’m in the minority here, but I just found the action pretty underwhelming, and the comedy was way off for me. Granted, there are huge set pieces, and there are a couple of great action scenes, especially a motorbike-car chase between Brixton, Hobbs, and...

I generally really enjoy the Fast and Furious movies and was looking forward to this spin-off, especially being directed by David Leitch, but nothing in this stood out action/stunts-wise and the chemistry between Johnson/Statham/Kirby was lackluster, including the quasi-budding romance with Johnson and Kirby. A lot of this film felt forced and going in the science fiction realm just felt wrong. Sure, it's got the dumb elements F&F is known for, but very little of this was fun. 2.75/5

Yeah, sure, fuck it, why not, hey? I mean the Fast & Furious franchise was already dipping into some sci-fi elements, why not just whole-hog dive into it for your spinoff? Dumb as dogshit, but might genuinely be the best thing Fast & Furious has ever produced. Has cars in it, but stops bothering to try and pretend racing them is actually important to the story.

Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

Wow! That was just fucking awesome!

Don't know why there's so many haters though. Hobbs and Shaw was the best action movie in 2019.

Yeah, it was cheesy. Very cheesy. But in an awesome way.

A good old fashioned end-to-end action movie. The script is irrelevant, it's about loads of pyrotechnics, special effects and not a lot else. Who cares? Idris Elba is clearly in his element as the baddie against the F&F equivalent of dumb and dumber - Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham - who are also having fun and it is contagious. It is way, way, too long, but there is certainly some charisma on the screen and where else will you still see a bow and arrow and an axe in a fight these days?

72/100

Hobbs & Shaw, along with Shaw's sister, are forced into saving the world while being pursued by an biotechnologically enhanced soldier. The story is simple, with cliche characters, and Hobbs & Shaw constantly flexing their egos insulting each other through the first half of the film got obnoxiously old real fast. However, this is intended to be an action thriller and on that, they deliver. Great action sets culminating in a Samoan battle sequence, with clubs and spears, and a helicopter sequence that was both ridiculous and highly entertaining. This was fun! -- DrNostromo.com