Fast and Furious Presents Hobbs and Shaw: Here’s what works and what doesn’t

Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw delivers what it promises, loads of action with an equal measure of banter between its heavy-duty leads – Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby and Idris Elba. The Fast & Furious franchise has been around since 2001 and with the growing number of stars, it was only a matter of time that the series got a spin-off and who better to lead it than The Rock and Statham.

Hobbs and Shaw has been in theaters for a few days now and here we discuss what works for the movie and what doesn’t.

Here’s what works for Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw:

1. Vanessa Kirby

Vanessa Kirby was the best part of Netflix’s The Crown and here too, she steals the show. She is enigmatic as Hattie Shaw who has stolen the virus to save it from falling into wrong hands. Kirby performs her action scenes with such finesse that it makes you root for her to headline a superhero film. We’re glad that female-led superhero films are the norm of the day because Kirby can pull an entire franchise off with ease.

2. Oodles of charisma

Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Idris Elba have tonnes of charisma and they bring it to the movie quite effortlessly. Johnson and Statham have different styles when it comes to action and they team up quite well against Elba. Action films aren’t as much about acting as they are about style and the three of them have tonnes of that.

3. Action scenes

Hobbs and Shaw showed some of its best action sequences in its trailer but it comes as no surprise that the film has even more action scenes that look spectacular in the theater. The chase scene on the streets of London and the one set in Russia were truly the best parts of the movie.

4. Surprise cameos

The film has three surprise cameos. (SPOILER ALERT) The first one that brings a smile to your face features Ryan Reynolds in the role of Agent Locke. He plays Hobbs’ handler, who sets him off on the mission to get the Snowflake virus. He also appears in the post-credits scenes hinting at a follow-up movie. Rob Delaney and Kevin Hart also appear in the film and deliver the punches just right.

Here’s what doesn’t work for Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw:

1. The plot

Anyone going to theaters for Hobbs & Shaw knows what to expect but as an audience, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for some surprise elements in the plot. The story is simple and you get it in the first few minutes itself. As far as the climax is concerned, you know what’s going to happen right from the start.

2. The forced familial relationships

For years, Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto has been going on and on about family and relationships. Even though it is cringeworthy at times, it has become the identity of the Fast & Furious franchise. Here too, the two leads are given familial bonds but they just don’t make an impact. Luke Hobbs’ family story in Samoa exists for plot convenience and Shaw’s bond with his sister doesn’t carry as much emotional depth.

3. The really long run-time

The film’s climax feels stretched and goes on for a really long time. Since the audience is present mostly for the spectacular action, the makers could have cut to the chase.

Also Read | Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw movie review

4. An evolved villain

There’s no doubt that Idris Elba is the perfect choice to play Brixton aka The Black Superman. He is such a heavyweight that the heroes don’t know how to defeat him until the very end. The film gives Brixton’s back story and his history with Shaw but he’s quite one-dimensional. In his introduction scene when a character asks “Who are you?” he answers, “I’m the bad guy” and that’s pretty much all we get