Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Puts the F in Family and Makes Violence Fun
The everexpanding and evermoneymaking Fast & Furious franchise returns for its first spin-off. After dealing with family for the past eight installments, it was time for the franchise move to unexpected and bold territory by moving away from Dom Torretto’s story…or so we thought. Hobbs & Shaw is, above all else, a tale of family. When Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby) injects herself with the deadly Snowflake virus, she is hunted down by Black Superman Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) to retrieve the virus from her and start a genocide. HMMM WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS BEFORE? The last movie I watched (Unlocked) had the same plot where the villain wants to spread a virus so people could get sick and he could profit from that (by creating antidotes), though the antidote business is ignored as Brixton wants to kill the “weak” with the virus. Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) must now work together to remove the virus from Hattie’s body before the symptoms start manifesting and stop Brixton from getting the virus.
It’s a complex plot — with a villain that doesn’t care for revenge or “family”, while also moving away from the car chases that made last films Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious inherently exciting and fun. This feels like a straight-up superhero movie relying on the characters’ machismo to defeat the “invincible” villain. The “family” aspect of Hobbs & Shaw comes with Deckard’s relationship with his mother (Helen Mirren) and sister and Hobbs’ relationship with his daughter (Eliana Sua) and “family”, especially his brother Jonah (Cliff Curtis) whom he has a tumultuous relationship with. So, yes, the family aspect of the Fast & Furious franchise isn’t gone, but this is, in my opinion, the franchise’s least ham-fisted family-driven plot and a more natural and humane plot than mindlessly saying “family” all the time. I loved the relationship between Luke and Jonah and the mother (Lori Pelenise Tusiano)’s speech on the importance of family. It might be a bit soapy, but it works because the speech is true.
However, director David Leitch might take the “family” business a little more extreme with the introduction of Agent Locke (Ryan Reynolds) who is, by far, the most irritating character of the entire film. The jokes involving Ryan Reynolds aren’t funny and feel incredibly forced. Yes, we know Leitch likes to work with the same people (this is the 3rd film directed by Leitch that features Eddie Marsan in a small role), but the humor in the sequences featuring Reynolds (and the two post-credit scenes involving his character) are the definition of “annoying”, “irritating” and its synonyms. His “BFF” “no-homo” relationship with Hobbs is cringeworthy and made for a really bad start of the movie. I absolutely loathed the film’s opening; too many things were crammed at once and then Ryan Reynolds showed up to kill quips and bathos at the same time. Another overlong scene with another overlong cameo from Kevin Hart was also painfully excruciating. It felt that the movie’s quietest sequences were nothing but cheap attempts at throwing as much comedy as the audience member could take before saying STOP IT! That being said, there are some funny moments and that comes exclusively with the banter between Statham and Johnson that is still as fresh as it was in The Fate of the Furious. Both Johnson and Statham deliver fantastic performances in this extremely over-the-top movie.
The best part of the movie is, of course, the action sequences. I think 95% of people unironically love The Fast and the Furious franchise because of its action setpieces. David Leitch isn’t a story director, but surely knows how to direct exciting and tense action sequences. The car chase in London is a highlight, or the chase in the Eteon facility is absolutely bonkers and is best experienced on an IMAX screen. The action sequences are full of masculinity and exciting superhero kinetics, featured in a mindless action franchise about cars. It’s weird, but it works. For once, Brixton Lore felt like a legitimate threat and Idris Elba plays the villainous Lore brilliantly. The fight sequence in the rain is reminiscent of Guy Ritchie’s super slow-mo punches in Sherlock Holmes, but is still pulpy and adrenaline-fueled to watch. It’s a mindless action movie with boldly unrealistic setpieces, but holy hell. When Hobbs leads a War Haka and everyone is shirtless, while screaming war crys (Roman Reigns and Dwayne Johnson screaming together is absolute cinematic bliss), David Leitch tells the audience that what you’re watching is pure 80s Cannon-esque cinema where the story makes zero sense, but the action is so cathartic and exciting that you can’t help but admire the true kinetic sensibility of Leitch’s setpieces and sit back, relax and bathe in the film’s adrenaline and accept the fact that The Fast and the Furious is nothing but a mindless action franchise destined to entertain your inner testosterone in you. If you take this franchise seriously, shame on you! It accomplishes what the other movie did: credible performances, a menacing antagonist, great cinematography and excitingly masculine action sequences in which violence is fun! (Which it shouldn’t be, at all).
See it in IMAX!
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