Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Movie Review: Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham Give the Finger to Physics in This Slick, Entertaining Action-Comedy

Hobbs & Shaw Movie Review: You might have heard it in the trailer when Brixton (Idris Elba), the main antagonist of Hobbs & Shaw, proclaims 'I am Black Superman!'. If it was in any other movie, that line would sound ludicrous. But since Hobbs & Shaw belongs to the Fast & Furious franchise and it lives upto its potential, that line is the sanest thing about the film. Hobbs & Shaw is a big FU to the term 'subtlety' and every law of physics, as it bathes in the revelry of its OTT action sequences. Newton can roll in his grave, The Rock and The Stat are here to rave! Dwayne Johnson Posts a BTS Video from Hobbs and Shaw, Revealing an Action Sequence That Will Not Be a Part of the Film.

After turning friends towards the end of Fast and Furious 8, federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and former British Special Forces assassin Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are back to being bickering frenemies. Both are brought together for a mission to get hold of Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), an MI6 agent, accused of running away with a deadly virus, strangely called Snowflake. Hattie also happens to be the estranged sister of Deckard, who was unhappy about her brother's past misdemeanours.

Giving them hot pursuit is Brixton, a cybernetics-enhanced former field agent thought KIA, who works for a shadowy organisation and wants the Macguffin…I mean, the virus. The result is an explosive ride filled with absurdly fun action sequences, that Rohit Shetty may want to incorporate in his next.

As you can read from above, the plot lacks the kind of imagination the director David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2) has put in the stunts. The whole Hattie-Snowflake angle is lifted off from Mission: Impossible 2. Hobbs and Shaw's flaky bromance has that Bad Boys vibe going on, and the story is as predictable as the huge box office opening the film is going to make. The movie also drags after a certain point, especially when Hobbs & Shaw shifts its setting to Hawaii.

The comedy part of this action-comedy does not always stick well. Hobbs and Shaw's frequent bickering offers occasional mirth, like the first time where they meet and ridicule each other's voices. Or the scene where they battle a different set of goons in two parallel rooms. But otherwise, their banter often becomes tiresome. Like Hattie, I couldn't help but roll my exasperated eyes at these two men going on at each other at every moment given just because the narrative demands them to. Thankfully, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have an awesome chemistry that scales over the mediocrity of the script they have to perform on.

There are a couple of surprise cameos though, that offer some chuckles even if they feel in the spirit of the director's last film. Wink...wink...

But talking about how bad and uninspired the script is, feels meaningless when I am reviewing a film from the Fast and Furious franchise. We are all here for the action and the ridiculously glorious stunts, and Leitch, a former stunt director himself, doesn't disappoint much. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham’s Hobbs & Shaw Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi Trailers Are LIT – Watch Video.

Save for the final action sequence, though, that drags a bit too much and the hand-on-hand combat scenes are ruined by some very choppy editing.

But before that, there are some really thrilling and awesomely-executed action sequences (strangely, a couple of scenes did remind of Aamir Khan's Dhoom 3), especially in the first and second act. The attack on London HQ of MI by Brixton and the subsequent chase sequence is goosebump-inducing. And so is the Mad Max-like chase scene set in Ukraine that flourishes in how wildly illogical some of the stunts are designed. After all, Hobbs & Shaw belongs to a franchise whose last film had Hobbs push a missile on ice with his bare hands. Anything is possible here, so those looking for logic in these stunts can also look towards the 'Exit' sign. What's impressive is that Leitch makes these stunts looks so good and even convincing on the big IMAX screen.

The same goes for how Hobbs & Shaws lends itself visually in many of its frames. Credit for that goes to Jonathan Sela's fluid camerawork and David Scheunemann's production design. The BG score and the choice of songs used here feel a little underwhelming, though.

Speaking about the actors, Dwayne Johnson continues to bowl ya with another effortlessly charming act, that plays right to his strengths. I have to add here, though, that with every F&F film, his character is becoming less of the aggressively-moulded Hobbs we knew in Fast Five, and more of, well, The Rock himself. Jason Statham, with his heavy British accent, felt a bit more one-note to me, though he shines better in his scenes with Johnson.

The actors who impressed me the most in Hobbs & Shaw turn out to be Kirby and Elba. Vanessa Kirby, who was quite a scene-stealer as Princess Margaret in The Crown, injects this testosterone ride with an exciting dose of estrogen. She never settles in the damsel-in-distress mould, ready to kick ass even of the leads and awes us in nearly all the action scenes.

The Black Superman, Idris Elba, makes for the franchise's most intimidating villain, even with the schlocky nature of the character and the fact that he acts like Bane with the ambitions of Thanos. Is it me or is every blockbuster villain post-Avengers: Infinity War hell-bent on genocide in the noble mission of cleansing humanity?

Anyway, returning to Elba, his commanding screen presence and magnetic voice makes him is arresting in any scene that he pops up and some of the best stunts are reserved for him.

Watch the trailer of Hobbs & Shaw below:

Yay!

- The Rock and The Stat's Chemistry

- Idris Elba and Vanessa Kirby

- The Action Sequences

- Surprise Cameos

- Impressive Production Values

Nay!

- Drags in the Third Act

- Choppy Editing in the Final Fight

- The Comic Banter Don't Always Stick

- Mediocre, Plot That Feels Inspired By Other Movies

Final Thoughts

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw benefits from the charm of its lead actors, slick action scenes and even slicker production values, filled with some nice surprises. Sure, it could have profited better from a better script and editing. And yet, Hobbs & Shaw is a ridiculously entertaining film that will satiate the fans of the franchise.

PS: After watching Hobbs & Shaw, I am really curious to know to what lengths Vin Diesel and co would go to in the next instalment of Fast & Furious to overshadow this film. Anything less than Dominic Toretto doing somersaults with a McLaren on the surface of the moon would be disappointing!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2019 01:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).