Directed by: David Leitch
Release date: August 2nd, 2019
Rating: 7/10
Hobbs and Shaw is one of those movies that you don't go into the theater expecting any kind of groundbreaking or thought-provoking cinema. It is, however, a film that you can go to and enjoy because there's a lot of action, comedy, and badass characters. Let's start out with the positives. The action is top notch. With movies like Mission Impossible - Fallout out there, you can't really rely on straight up stunts anymore, since films like that are going to make you fall by the wayside. This film gets around that by making the action very gimmick-focused. That is to say, the stunts aren't as practical, but boy are they fun to watch. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have good chemistry on screen, or lack thereof. The banter between the two of them was some of the funniest stuff in the movie. And Vanessa Kirby also stands out as Shaw's (Statham) MI6 operative sister. Idris Elba plays a great over-the-top bad guy and some of the coolest stunts belonged to him. The third act is where they throw as much explosions, fighting, and big stunts as they possibly can. And I'm here for it. Now the issues. Most of the film doesn't make sense. Not in the way to where I don't understand what's happening, but some plot points don't make sense and some things that happen stunt-wise are just straight up impossible. You really have to turn your brain off in order to get past all these physical impossibilities. While the film is about Hobbs and Shaw being at odds with one another, they are essentially the same person. One is smaller and stealthier than the other but for all intents and purposes they are the same. There's really no believable reason for them to not like each other. Especially since at the end of the last movie they seemed to be getting along about as well as they do by the end of this one. Hobbs and Shaw is a movie that, once you suspend your disbelief, you can sit back and enjoy the action. At it's core, it tries to send a message about the importance of family, as all the Fast & Furious movies do, and it does its job.