[Review] Hobbs & Shaw

In case you’ve lost count how many films there are in the Fast & Furious series, we’re now up to a total of nine. Nine! 

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham team up for the ninth with Hobbs & Shaw, a muscle flexing spin-off that punches its way into over-the-top chaos.

The ridiculous, continent-hopping plot sees seminal rivals Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw begrudgingly team up to save the world from the destructive Brixton Lorr (Idris Elba), a cybernically-powered villain with superhuman strength and abilities.

This action buddy comedy is all over the place. There’s a lot going on. The film is basically the cinematic equivalent of an “Everything“ Bagel that catches on fire and explodes. And while it might be too overcooked and too long for its own good, it’s also loaded with grenades of fun and outbursts of butter-soaked popcorn entertainment. Hands are thrown and bodies are tossed every five minutes. This is a movie where The Rock leads an army of Samoans against against a faction of gun-toters. This is a movie where Statham does donuts in a vehicle that has flamethrowers blasting out the side. The only thing missing is The Rock giving someone the People’s Elbow.

Hobbs & Shaw is highly funny and smirkingly self-aware. The Rock and Jason Statham play really well of off each other with their mixed match of charisma and curmudgeon. The two also have great comic timing. They bicker and roast each other, butting heads like two clashing bulls in a contest of badassery. The film also throws in some amusing appearances from Ryan Reynolds and The Rock’s frequent on-screen buddy Kevin Hart.

 

The Fast series has never been grounded in reality or logic or physics, and this one leaps even further from that. There’s futuristic sci-fi and supernatural elements here, which might turn off some people. But let’s face it: These movies will probably be set in an intergalactic volcano before we know it. 

( 7/10 )