Director
David Leitch
(DEADPOOL 2, ATOMIC BLONDE)

Stars
Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby and Idris Elba

I may lose (or hopefully gain) a few followers for saying this, but here goes.
Any movie that can piss off Vin Diesel, especially to the extent that this Fast & Furious spin-off has, gets an extra brownie point from me! Yet, despite his almighty hissy fit during the final week of production in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS, HOBBS & SHAW bears little resemblance to and isn’t necessarily better than any of the films from the everlasting franchise.

From the time that Fast & Furious series regulars Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) first met in 2015’s FURIOUS 7, the DSS agent and former assassin haven’t exactly got on like a house on fire. Neither one backs down from a battle involving their brawn or a verbal exchange of the most macho language that exists. Now however, with the world’s population in danger courtesy of a bio-threat, they simply must pair up and learn to work together in order to thwart the devastating plans of a cyber-genetically enhanced villain named Brixton (Idris Elba).

In all seriousness, the only threat to the world’s population there really will be in HOBBS & SHAW is the numbing of our intelligence. There has to come a day when such a standardised plot and structure to drive a story of this genre is no longer the norm. To now contradict myself somewhat, HOBBS & SHAW probably gets a pass mark anyway thanks to its cast and a few non-standard accessories.

Whether major or minor in appearance, almost every actor makes their character far more entertaining to be in the company of than what the script permits. I won’t harp on about my fondness of Dwayne Johnson and his inherent charisma. Instead, I’d like to mention how effective Idris Elba is as the film’s antagonist and rewarding it is to see star of Netflix series The Crown, Vanessa Kirby with a major role to play in proceedings here. There will be better yet from her, but Kirby handles her part quite well indeed. A couple of other actors I enjoyed, and one I thoroughly enjoyed, don’t have their names appearing in the cast list, so I’ll maintain that secret for your viewing pleasure. Best of all, we are never subject to the mistreatment of acting from Vin Diesel!

Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise seeking more of the same in HOBBS & SHAW will probably leave the cinema disappointed. But if you simply enjoy this genre of movie for what it has to offer, there are just enough slick and eye-catching stunts executed throughout that don’t allow these sequences to run on autopilot for too long.

Speaking of too long, that is this movie’s grossest misjudgement, by far. At 135 minutes, HOBBS & SHAW never realises when enough is enough. This is never more obvious than during the final credits, which features several additional scenes (three of which I remained for, before leaving!) that prolong the film’s already overstayed welcome to the point of exhaustion.

3 stars

Viewer Discretion
M (Action violence and coarse language)

Trailer
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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