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Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw


Hobbs & Shaw





I'm trying to save the world, which, for the record, will be my fourth time. 'Cause I'm really good at it.

This franchise is so weird. What started out with a Point Break update involving fast cars and stolen dvd players has now become faster cars and saving the world from nuclear war. This is the first "spin-off" in the series (although some would argue Tokyo Drift is also a spin-off) and is the 9th film in the series, despite Fast 9 coming out soon. Someone thought it would be a good idea to have the Rock and Statham team up despite one of them having killed a likable character from an earlier film. But hey...let's forget about all that, right? These guys just don't like each other, but it's funny seeing them yell at each other so let's make a movie about it.

That's one of the key elements that makes this film cringe worthy. The forced comedic dialogue between these two, let's call it cheeky banter. It's terrible. The comedy bits do not land, they stall awkwardly. Seeing these two throw insults at each other is amusing in the first 20 minutes, then gets tiring, then irritating, then down right annoying. It doesn't help that they also seem to shoehorn Johnson's new BFF into the film and another odd cameo appearance from a funny action star. Seeing these recognizable faces took me out of the film every time they were on the screen.

The film wants to be a member of the MCU, introducing a faceless enemy that doesn't get captured and will come back for vengeance in a later installment..."we'll be watching you too" is Johnson's response...okay? I care why??? The filmmakers introduce motorcycles into the franchise now. They were used a bit in the first film but with no chase sequences, now we have an opportunity to bring something fresh to the series....oh, they're Transformers like machines that look incredibly fake and add no elevated sense of excitement to the action sequences? Okay, missed opportunity there guys.

The dialogue is cringe worthy, the story is your basic 'guy wants to take over the world' mumbo jumbo and the acting is what you would expect from two guys that never try to be anyone other than themselves on the screen. The one saving grace is Vanessa Kirby, she's a delight and is refreshing to see someone like her in this sausage-fest. Even Idris Elba is a little disappointing playing a half human half cyborg type character that can anticipate every move before our heroes make them.

Hobbs and Shaw didn't "ignite" the box-office so I have a sense that they might just migrate the story back to the Fast & Furious movies. They had an opportunity, even though no one asked for it, to make something a little different and they went in the wrong direction. The series has gotten significantly more absurd with each film, but they came with a sense of fun and stupidity that made them enjoyable. Hobbs and Shaw fails in this area, spectacularly.