Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) - Review

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) - Review

Hobbs & Shaw is the franchise's most purely entertaining spinoff and the film that demonstrated the series' capacity to generate a compelling standalone entry from two of its most charismatic supporting characters, a work of considerable comic energy and action ambition that delivered its pleasures with a lightness and a wit that made the experience considerably more enjoyable than the spinoff premise might have suggested. David Leitch's 2019 film is not a work of great dramatic ambition, but as a demonstration of the franchise's capacity for crowd-pleasing entertainment built on two leads of extraordinary screen presence, it is one of the most purely enjoyable entries in the extended franchise universe.

At a Glance

Director: David Leitch
Runtime: 135 minutes
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren
Release: 2019
Critics Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, purely entertaining spinoff)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, enjoyable)

Review Breakdown

Plot

Hobbs and Shaw are forced to work together to protect Shaw's sister Hattie, an MI6 agent who has injected herself with a deadly supervirus to keep it from the genetically enhanced super-soldier Brixton. The plot is the franchise's most straightforwardly action-comedy, a buddy film of adequate complexity that provides sufficient structure for the set-pieces and character comedy that are the picture's real business. The Samoa climax is the film's most visually distinctive set-piece, a demonstration of practical action filmmaking that uses the island setting with a specificity and visual energy that gives the picture its most geographically distinctive passage. The globe-spanning structure, from London to Chernobyl to Samoa, gives the spinoff a sense of scale that distinguishes it from a more modestly conceived franchise offshoot.

Characters

Johnson's Hobbs and Statham's Shaw are the picture's indispensable elements, and their antagonistic partnership is the primary reason it works as well as it does. Johnson's physical authority and comic self-awareness and Statham's dry wit and physical capability create a dynamic of extraordinary entertainment value, and their scenes together are the film's most purely enjoyable passages. Idris Elba's Brixton is the franchise's most physically formidable villain, a genetically enhanced super-soldier of personal menace whose technological augmentation gives the franchise's central antagonist dynamic a science fiction dimension the more grounded entries did not attempt. Vanessa Kirby's Hattie Shaw is the film's most significant new character, a woman of professional competence and personal authority whose capability gives the picture a credibility the more purely decorative franchise female characters did not always provide. Helen Mirren's Magdalene Shaw is the film's most purely enjoyable supporting presence, a character of considerable comic energy whose scenes with both leads are the picture's most entertaining moments.

Tone

Leitch pitches the film at a register of pure entertainment and comic energy, giving it a lightness and wit that makes the experience enjoyable despite its more limited ambitions. The picture is at its most rewarding in its comedy sequences, where Johnson and Statham's chemistry and Leitch's command of comic timing make the material feel fresh.

Meaning / Themes

At its core, the film is about professional rivalry and earned respect, about Hobbs and Shaw's mutual antagonism and their gradual recognition of each other's capabilities and values. The family theme, the franchise's central value, is given a new expression here through Hobbs's Samoan family and Shaw's relationship with his sister, a demonstration that the franchise's central value extends beyond the original crew to encompass the new characters the extended universe has introduced.

Direction

Leitch's direction is technically accomplished and entertainingly assured, with a command of the action sequences and a feel for staging large-scale set-pieces with both physical clarity and comic energy. The Samoa climax is the film's directorial highlight, a demonstration of practical action filmmaking that uses the island setting with a specificity and visual energy that gives the picture its most geographically distinctive passage.

Cultural Reception

Hobbs & Shaw was a commercial success on its release, confirming the franchise's capacity to generate viable spinoff entertainment from its supporting characters. Critical reception was warm, with most reviewers acknowledging the entertainment value of Johnson and Statham's chemistry while noting the film's more limited ambitions. It is now most frequently discussed as the most purely entertaining entry in the extended franchise universe and as a demonstration of the franchise's capacity for crowd-pleasing entertainment built on charismatic leads.

Who Should Watch

Fast and Furious fans will find it a rewarding spinoff that delivers the franchise's entertainment pleasures in a more focused and comedic register. Those who approach it as a buddy action comedy with two leads of extraordinary screen presence will find exactly what they are looking for.

Final Verdict: The franchise's most purely entertaining spinoff. Johnson and Statham's chemistry is the picture's greatest asset, Elba's Brixton is the franchise's most physically formidable villain, Kirby's Hattie is the most capable new female character the extended universe has introduced, and Leitch's direction gives the Samoa climax a practical action ambition that makes Hobbs & Shaw one of the most purely enjoyable entries in the extended franchise universe.

The Fast and the Furious Series

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