Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a testosterone fueled action spectacle where two buff guys argue about who is the alpha dog for 2 hours and 16 minutes. So we sent our two buffest, alpha doggiest reviewers to argue about this movie. Take it away fellas.
Madison: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is utterly ridiculous in the best way possible. It is exactly what it presents itself as and just a little bit more. The Fast & Furious films have shifted over the course of the franchise; Hobbs & Shaw is them gunning it to the edge of absurdity with beautiful, reckless abandon.
Cole: Oh, way past the edge. The edge was driving cars off rooftops and throwing torpedos. This movie has four cars chained together dragging a helicopter, The Rock jumping out of a 100 story building and punching people on the way down, and a bunch of Samoans doing a war dance in preparation for the final fight using blunt spears against a team of highly trained professionals with guns. This movie gives so much more than the edge of absurdity.
Madison: Knowing that Hobbs & Shaw is directed by David Leitch, whose last movies include Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and an uncredited director-ship on John Wick, this movie is a Leitch classic. Certainly pushes and exceeds the boundaries of what we can expect from the Fast & Furious franchise.
Cole: There are a couple (okay two) serious action movies in that filmography. This isn’t another one. My big reaction to Hobbs & Shaw was giddy surprise. Everytime lesser movies zig into “logical decision making” or “practical stunts” this movie zags right into what the fans want. Every time I thought, well they can’t actually do that, they did. It doesn’t take a break for a second to be a good capital m Movie, it just leans into being a wild movie.
Madison: I can just imagine Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham sitting a room brainstorming what a fun buddy-action movie would be and they come up with Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson is everything you can you want him to be. And Statham has maybe never been more Statham.
Cole: And I can only assume some of the quips came from that little brainstorming sesh, because this movie quips. Hard.
Madison: So much banter. Hobbs & Shaw rests purely on banter and insane action. Oh, and sometimes there’s a car chase.
Cole: Nah, this franchise doesn’t need cars anymore. They have super-heroes and super-soldiers. And black Superman.
Madison: The inclusion of Idris Elba as an augmented super-soldier was exactly the re-invention the Fast & Furious movies needed. Elba is a great actor and letting him lean into the “I’m the bad guy”-ness of it all really works for the film. And if it’s no surprise, the plot leaves a few threads dangling to be picked up in future iterations.
Cole: Well the plot leaves a little more than that up in the air. I think it was about CIA operative Vanessa Kirby trying to protect a super-soldier serum until she injects herself with it, except it is actually poison that will blow up the world in 36 hours or some other ticking clock time, so the titular Hobbs and Shaw have to extract it before bad guy Idris Elba extracts it, and everyone punches each other a lot in between.
Madison: Yeah that about covers the plot, haha. Hobbs & Shaw is the sort of film you just have to give yourself over to. Leave your critical mind at home, folks. Just let the cinematic experience wash over you. A couple of times I found myself thinking “but wait, why?” Then I just let the thought flow down the river and accepted the next amazing, beautiful, absurdity that came way may.
Cole: And you know I’m never the type to endorse that line of critique. But wow, this movie gave itself over to the crazy side so much more than any other movie I’ve ever seen that I feel like we owe it the same back. We aren’t talking about a garden variety, half-way bad, dumb action movie here. This is a full-blown-laws-of-physics-gone, sweaty, punch-fest.
Madison: But somehow you enjoy it. If there is anywhere to critique, it’s in that Hobbs & Shaw exceeds any seriousness any Fast & Furious movie ever pretended to have. It leans hard into the humor and insanity.
Cole: So often apologizers for this kind of movie talk about what it’s not trying to do. It isn’t trying to make you think, it isn’t trying to revolutionize the genre (or re-invent The Matrix’s wheel as it were). That’s true. But what it did try to do was be the most enjoyable, fun, satisfying, balls-to-the-wall action movie it could be.
Madison: And I think it is all of those things.
Cole: I do too.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters August 2. It is the 9th entry into the franchise to date and the first (of hopefully many) spin-offs starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Jason Statham.