As we are in the dog days of the summer film season, we have seen a number of the usual suspects: several big-budget and animated flicks to woo that demographic into those elusive theater seats--cha-ching! When I saw the first trailer of "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw", I felt this was going to be the quintessential summer popcorn flick replete with wild stunts, explosions and high-adrenaline, and I would say I nailed that one!
Ever since hulking lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015's "Furious 7", the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they've tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever--and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw's sister--these two sworn enemies must partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.
Others to round out the cast are Helen Mirren as Queenie, Deckard and Hattie's mother, Eiza Gonzalez as Madame M, Eddie Marsan as Professor Andreiko, Eliana Su'a as Sam, Cliff Curtis as Jonah, Hobbs' brother, Lori Pelenise Tuisano as Sefina, Hobbs' mother, John Tui as Kal and Joshua Mauga as Timo.
This was grittily directed by David Leitch ("Atomic Blonde" '17, "Deadpool 2" '18) plus a ton of stunt work. As with other stunt coordinators, this filmmaker has made the transition to the director's chair--and has done so with gusto. Not only did he capture the clever banter between the two lead stars in this, his eye for wild stunts--along with the consummates, Chris O'Hara and Simon Crane is simply unsurpassed. As long as he stays within his comfort zone, he will likely excel with directing. He is a busy guy with both "Undying Love" and "The Division" in pre-production. Talk about staying within your comfort zone, this was written in a rapid fire way by Chris Morgan ("Cellular" '04, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" '06, "Wanted" '08, "Fast & Furious" '09, "Fast Five" '11, "Fast & Furious 6" '13, "47 Ronin" '13, "Furious 7" '15, "The Fate of the Furious" '17) plus TV, and Drew Pearce ("No Heroics" (TV movie) '09, "Iron Man 3" '13, "Hotel Artemis" '18) plus TV and shorts, based on a story by Morgan, which is based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson. Since Morgan is the "Fast & Furious" king, it's no surprise that he penned a good deal of this script. In fact, Morgan has written the next installment, "Fast & Furious 9" which is being filmed now. There are many interesting characters in which to shoot off with there own film that this is certainly the main reason that this worked. The other (and maybe the more important) reason why this worked was that both Morgan and Pearce decided to write this storyline with an abundance of humor--not belly laugh comedy, but humor that allowed us to see that these guys were not without issues, which makes them come across as more human. If this was written as a straight out drama, it would've come off as cheesy. Of course, this wasn't without issues--it was definitely too long-in-the-tooth. This could've had approximately 15 minutes shaved off the running time and still gotten their point across. Elba played a great baddie and even both Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart had non-credited small, however pivotal roles in this this which gave it that much more humor.
As mentioned prior, the stunt coordinators were the real stars here. This encumbered an amazing array of stunts that left the audience wondering how they did those amazing stunts? This is the type of film that one can totally escape into. An Academy Award possibility? Heck no, but you have to know this before you enter the multiplex. Enjoy this, it's quite the roller coaster ride!
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 137mins.
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