Hobbs & Shaw

Does stupidity in a film irk you? Do you roll your eyes when a stunt defies the laws of physics or when an action scene contains something which could not ever happen? Do baldie fellas bother you because you prefer your men with a full head of hair? If the answer to any of these 3 questions is yes then I advise, strongly, that you avoid the new Fast & Furious spin off; Hobbs & Shaw. If not and you are just looking for a dose of bombastic fun then come on in. H&S will fulfill your every need.

There's a virus. It's man made and it's of the organ melting variety. Brooklyn Lore (Idris Elba) wants it and the only person with a sample of it is an M16 agent called Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby). Brooklyn is a man ran by cybernetic implants and she's in grave danger. Luckily for her, her brother is none other than Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), super spy and double hard bastard. DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is after the virus too and him and his old frenemy Deckard have to work together to get it. Explosions ensue.

Pardon the pun but this film rocked. It's a gloriously silly & ridiculously ott spin off to a franchise that started some bit normally before plummetting off a cliff around the time of it's fifth installment. Based on what happens here the next F&F film has to take place in space but there's nothing left on earth for it to destroy. It's fun, it's hilarious in parts and the action rarely lets up which is good because honestly, if you were too think about what you're watching any bit deeply the whole thing would fall apart. But who cares who you have Dwayne Johnson leading a haka against a group of gun toting mercs and Jason Statham Oldboying his way through an army of Russian security guards who definitely aren't getting paid enough for this shit.

It's not a film to take seriously at all. If you do you'll run the risk your eyes rolling out of their sockets within minutes. But if you can just let yourself go with the madness you'll have a ball. This is the Fast & Furious by way of the MCU. All pretense of realism is gone out the window. Brooklyn is basically a supervillain and Luke Hobbs is Captain Samoa. One can survive an industrial chimney collapsing on his head and the other is stronger than a military helicopter. It's a 12 year old boy's dream movie. And this 40 year old fella had a whale of a time during it.

The F&F series was always ahead of the pack in regards to race and gender. Of the 4 leads in this only one is a white man. How rare is that? This spin off continues that grand tradition with the introduction of Hattie Shaw, a damsel who is definitely not in distress. She's a fine addition and her presence helps cut through the, at times, annoyingly macho atmosphere especially the many many scenes of sniping and banter when Deckard and Hobbs and the animosity between them boils over. These start off funny but honestly there's only so many cock jokes you can take before they get boring. There's so many that they start to feel redundant and this leads to a slightly baggy midsection that could have been tightened up ever so slightly. One plane set moment definitely felt unnecessary and seemingly only existed to set up a character for a future movie. I won't say who he is but he'll make a lot of people groan when he pops up.

They are small quibbles really when you are watching a movie that's this much fun. Also it's a film that despite all it's headbutts and gunshots and general kerfuffles continues that lovely F&F tradition of being all about family. Whoever thought they'd see The Stath in a touching moment? Not me. Thankfully there's no Vin Diesel around this time to make it all cloying and cheesy, instead here we just get a couple of heartfelt hugs and real smiles and siblings literally bonding by blood. Oh and Helen Mirren. In jail. What more could you ask for?