Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw movie poster

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

In theaters August 2, 2019

Rated

, ,

135 minutes

Directed by:

Starring: , , ,

Did you ever see Tropic Thunder? Do you remember those satiric trailers of Ben Stiller’s Tugg Speedman in progressively over-the-top sequels of his action hero franchise…up to it’s latest installment, Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown? It’s not an exaggeration to compare the latest Fast & Furious film to that gag. In fact, when Fast & Furious proper returns next year, I fully expect John Cena to land a Five Knuckle Shuffle on Vin Diesel as they race to the moon in a tricked-out spaceship.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a slight detour from the norm only in the downsizing of its cast. Everything else about this movie is your typical Fast & Furious recipe, including the aforementioned one-upping of the ridiculousness of the plot, and special effects/stunts from the previous iteration. This time around, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) must put aside their differences to take down Brixton (Idris Elba), a part-man-part-machine puppet with aspirations to commit global genocide via a highly deadly virus. But Brixton must first obtain that virus from Hattie Shaw (yes, Deckard’s sister, played by Vanessa Kirby) who has injected the virus into her own body. Hobbs and Shaw have to track her down, protect her, lose her to the villain, rescue her back, and protect her again until the threat is eliminated. Spoiler alert: they succeed.

The effects are really impressive, but any move any of these characters make is PERFECT. Perfectly choreographed and perfectly executed regardless of the degree of impossibility or improbability. Nary a scratch on anyone to the point where you can’t help but wonder if anyone (except the hundreds of innocent bystanders) are in any real danger. If this were any movie other than the ninth Fast & Furious movie, it’d be immediately dismissed as crap…anyone remember when Rock & Co. pulled the same nonsense in 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation? It’s the same movie.

But please…pardon the snarky review…I actually enjoyed Hobbs & Shaw despite that feeling of “oh come on!” anytime an action sequence shamelessly played out on-screen. The chemistry between Johnson and Statham is undeniable. The professionalism and suave of Elba is unquestionable. It’s a darn beautiful movie full of excellent ‘splosions and well-timed curse words. But come on! A transforming motorcycle that can flawlessly split the uprights between two crossing semi-truck tractors? I’m drawing a line in the sand. Please bring this franchise back to reality.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is streaming now on the following services:
Movie Reelist Contributor: Chris Giroux
Chris Giroux is founder and editor-in-charge at Movie Reelist, an entertainment news and review blog serving the most fanatic moviegoers. Chris started his publication in Detroit in 2010 and has since reviewed hundreds of films and interviewed numerous talent across the country. He is an avid film festival attendee and red carpet photographer, having shot the likes of Steven Spielberg, Bill Murray, Mark Hamill, and more. Chris grew up in New Mexico, where he studied mass media writing while working in post-production and multimedia authoring. It is also where he discovered Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York, resulting in an unhealthy Kurt Russell obsession.

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