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FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS AND SHAW
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby
Director: David Leitch
Genre: Action, Adventure
Rating: PG13
RUNTIME: 135 Mins
Since the first movie of the Fast and Furious franchise came out more than 18 years ago, it has gone through a series of tonal and thematic changes, going from a movie about stolen cars through a heist phase until it morphed into a behemoth of spying, slow-motion and super-testosterone.
The latest addition, Hobbs and Shaw is a spinoff with the same flavour, albeit with a different set of leading meat slabs.
After eight movies featuring fast cars and furious dudes, everyone knows what is in store: this is no highfalutin Oscar bait, it’s high-octane, CGI-augmented, non-stop action on autopilot.
This iteration focuses on US Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and his arch-nemesis UK Special Forces assassin, Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, teaming up to save Deckard’s sister Hattie, played by Vanessa Kirby, and defeat black Superman (his words, not mine) Brixton Lore, played by Idris Elba.
All clichés of action flicks and double-act comedy are present. Luke and Deckard hate each other, are very different meatheads forced together and bicker like a pair of teenage girls.
Of course they refuse to work with one another, only to be forced into it. Of course, Brixton is the single-tone bad guy. Heck, he says it himself within his first five minutes of screen time. And of course, there is a world-threatening McGuffin being chased throughout the movie.
After being conned into working together to save the world from a mass genocide bioweapon, Luke and Deckard spend the entire movie bickering and beating baddies, punctuated by Hattie’s truly kickass fighting. In fact, they should have just called the movie, Hobbs and Shaws, as Hattie kicks just as much butt as her brawler of a brother. They travel to exotic locations like Russia and Samoa, riding at one point in a gorgeous McLaren 720S Coupe and walk away badass-style from explosions. There is a big bad corporation behind Brixton with Nazi-esque eugenic ideologies, but it’s mainly a tease for the next movie.
The movie ends with an over-the-top Samoan car and helicopter tango sequence that satisfied all the testosterone in me. Of course its physics were hyper-fictional. Most definitely, there was a countdown that they barely make. And yes, there was a groan-worthy, “We have to fight him ‘together’ to beat him” moment.
Despite the action movie formula, there is a sense of self-aware fun about this one that makes it so entertaining. And it is primarily because of Dwayne and Jason, who have an impeccable sense of comedic timing. Both these actors have dabbled in comedy, Jason with the unforgettable Snatch and Spy and Dwayne with Get Smart and Central Intelligence.
The two provided a much-needed reprieve from Vin Diesel, who always takes himself way too seriously and even cliché muscle-flexing scenes are enjoyable and energetic.
That’s not to say that the movie did not have original moments. Vanessa as an MI6 baddie brought intellectual and emotional depth to her character with a side of sizzling wit. I did not have the pleasure of watching her in Mission Impossible: Fallout, but her every moment in this movie had my eyes glued for all the right and a few of the wrong reasons.
Idris, who has previously done villainous roles in Beasts of No Nation and Star Trek Beyond was reasonably decent as well. A few scenes with him felt drawn-out and lifeless, but I blame the screen-writer. In my books, the affable Idris can do no wrong.
Another highlight was the guest stars. Ryan Reynolds makes an appearance as an obsessive Lock and Kevin Hart reprises his role from Central Intelligence, I mean, he plays a very similar character, Dickley. Helen Mirren reprises her role from The Fate of the Furious as the criminal matriarch.
The scenes with the guest stars were extra-decadent chocolate chips in a double-chocolate cookie cutter movie.
At the end of the day, I judge any franchise spinoffs, additions, remakes, reboots and movies that already have cinematic universes against the predecessors and of course, what my expectations were, going in.
On both counts, Hobbs and Shaw delivered and for that, I’ll give it a decent four stars. The Fast and Furious franchise has a formula which it stuck to, with a few noteworthy improvements.
If you are okay with over-the-top acting, a plot-hole riddled script and classic clichés, it is the perfect movie for a guys’ night out, where you just want to fist bump and roar with fake machismo after every onscreen explosion.
Naman’s verdict: 4/5
