Review: ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ is the summer action flick we have all been waiting for
‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ is everything fans are looking for and more as the newest addition to one of the longest running action franchises. To start, the cast is phenomenal, especially with the addition of a villainous Idris Elba. But most of all, the story has heart and at its core is about family, forgiveness and team work.
Starring Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ follows these two nemeses as they are forced to team up to save the world from a killer virus that just so happens to be injected into Hobbs’s sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby). After essentially being forced to inject herself with the dangerous programmable bio virus, the trio goes on a mission to deprogram the virus while also running from super villain Brixton Love (Elba). A former friend and colleague of Shaw’s, Brixton was presumed to be dead but instead was taken in by the evil high-tech organization Eteon that genetically enhanced his body to be the strongest and most dangerous assassin around.
While predictable, the film knows exactly what it is, which is one of the reasons it is sure to be a hit. The jokes were corny but effortlessly hilarious at the same time, which is something the actors clearly had a good time with. However most of all, the chemistry between these actors was palpable and they each worked wonderfully off of each other. And just like any good ‘Fast & Furious’ flick, the stunt work and special effects were top notch and made the film wildly entertaining.
Besides the two standout performances from Johnson and Statham, Kirby was the perfect addition to the trio while also being the much needed strong female presence. Every minute of Kirby’s screen time was full of girl power and bad ass combat moves. Even though a huge chunk of the film is essentially about Hobbs & Shaw “saving” her, it is made very clear to the audience that typically Hattie is more than capable of saving herself. That said, this operation calls for as much help as they can get, and the only chance of them saving the world is if they do it together.
As for Elba, how has he never been a part of this franchise before? Elba is absolutely perfect for the role and is probably one of the sexiest villains we have ever seen in this franchise. Also, whoever was his stunt double deserves an award because there were some seriously cool, crazy and likely very dangerous stunts throughout the entirety of the film that were beyond impressive. And as Elba always does with his roles, he brings a small sense of humanity to this evil character just with his facial expressions and tone. That said, he is one heck of a bad guy, but oh so fun to watch.
‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ is a fun ride and just the kind of summer film we need. There are also some amazing surprises for the audience throughout the film which include several out of this world cameos and some of the best end credit scenes we have seen in quite some time.
‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ hits theaters on August 2.
