Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

photo courtesy of latimes.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     In Hobbs & Shaw, a spinoff of the mega-blockbuster Fast and Furious franchise, a deadly virus threatens to destroy all of humankind. People from all sides are trying to acquire the virus, including MI6 agent Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) and cyber-genetically-enhanced mercenary Brixton (Idris Elba). When the virus goes missing, the government recruits agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) to locate and neutralize the threat.

     Like the other Fast and Furious movies, Hobbs & Shaw is both big and dumb, and that’s sort of the point. Stacked with ridiculous, over-the-top set pieces and cheesy comedy, it’s B-movie action material with a big budget. If you’re in the market for some mindless entertainment—and judging by the box office receipts, a lot of you are—this probably fits the bill. Just don’t mistake it for, you know, a good movie.

photo courtesy of cinemablend.com

     At its best, Hobbs & Shaw knows itself and its audience. It delivers crazy car chases, it gives its star-studded cast (which includes a few surprise cameos) several funny scenes, and it leaves no doubt as to whether more adventures are still to come. Most interestingly, its third act offers a refreshing change of location from what we’re used to getting in these types of flicks.

     But even with all that working in its favor, I had a really hard time getting into Hobbs & Shaw. Some things are just part of the experience—a story that doesn’t make sense, chaotic editing, the occasional egregious continuity error. Other things, like rampant product placement and a lack of developed female character arcs, are a bit more annoying.

photo courtesy of empireonline.com

     The major problem, however, is that Hobbs & Shaw runs way too long and feels way too tedious for something that’s supposed to be shameless spectacle. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, it could easily stand to lose 30 minutes or more. In fact, I think I could nominate a few scenes off the top of my head. Pretty much any 45 minutes from the second act, which includes a number of clunky, lackluster action sequences, could probably be dropped without affecting anything important—I’m not sure anyone would even notice the difference—and that seems like kind of a bad sign. I might be in the minority here, but I had trouble paying attention throughout much of this one, and it certainly didn’t leave me looking forward to the sequel.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence, suggestive material and some strong language. 

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