Review: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Recently released on Blu-ray/DVD is Hobbs & Shaw, a spinoff from the highly successful Fast and Furious movie franchise. It is your basic buddy cop movie, except this one is on speed. The action is pretty much non-stop, spanning across a variety of scenes. And in that regard, it is good. However, even action movies need a story, and that's where things fall apart. The premise is simply too far out there. It is like the writers tried to combine a cop movie with a futuristic sci-fi, and the results just ends up being weird.

Scientists have invented a virus that can destroy humankind, and there is a new threat that wants to get its hand on it. That threat is Eteon, a mysterious organization that seems to have unlimited resources. And according to this group's philosophy, the best hope for humankind is to replace them with machines. (This reminds me of Skynet from the Terminator movies.) To obtain the virus, Eteon sends Briston (played by Idris Elba), a cyborg that the organization created. Thanks to all his cybernetic implants, Brixton is essentially indestructable with super strength. To prevent Eteon from finding the virus, MI6 Agent Hattie Shaw (played by Vanessa Kirby) injects herself with it and goes into hiding. To recover the virus, Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson) is recruited by the CIA in the U.S., and Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham) is recruited by MI6 in the U.K. The two are reluctantly teamed up together to find Hattie Shaw and save the world. (Yes, Hattie Shaw and Deckard Shaw have the same last name. We learn that they are brother and sister. So Deckard has a special interest in saving Hattie.)

As previously mentioned, the problem with this movie is the unbelievable storyline. Without even seeing Hobbs and Shaw, the audience already knows that Hobbs and Shaw are bad-asses from the Fast and Furious movies. Heck, even if you never saw Fast and Furious, you know these characters will be tough guys just from the way they've been casted. However, no matter what, they are still just two human beings. Yet, they are tasked with defeating an invinsible cyborg? Not only is Brixton bullet proof, but he even survives a building being dropped on him at one point in the film. So is the audience suppose to buy the three of them in a fist fight? To be fair, there have been plenty of even more overpowered villains and outrageous themes in other films. However, those are usually from sci-fi films. To present an enemy which bullets simply bounce off of just doesn't work for a cop movie.

Logic aside, this film does live up to the Fast and Furious moniker. The film is mostly comprised of one action scene after another. In addition to fight scenes and gun battles, there were plenty of car chases like its predecessors. There is even a scene where two small armies essentially engage in hand-to-hand combat. So for all the action fans out there, they will not be disappointed.

Ironically, despite all the action sequences in the film, what really caught my eye were the scenes that featured two small comedic roles. Ryan Reynolds played Agent Locke, the CIA agent who recruits Hobbs onto the mission. There's also Kevin Hart. He played Air Marshall Dinkley, who Hobbs and Shaw befriends on a flight. Neither characters are pivotal to the plot, but the actors' hilarious dialogue and quick delivery brought some true laugh out loud moments to the film. In fact, during Reynold's diner scene with Johnson, it felt like I was watching Deadpool for a moment.

On screen, Johnson and Statham had decent chemistry. The back and forth verbal jabs between their two characters definitely made the film more fun. Shaw would constantly poke fun at Hobb's huge physique and his brute force approach to things. Conversely, Hobbs would ridicule Shaw's smaller stature and tease a sexual relationship with his sister. There was even a fight scene which turned into a game of one-upsmanship between the two. All of this brought a light feel to the movie that made it more entertaining.

On the flip side, an annoying aspect of the movie are the numerous inside jokes that refer to professional wrestling. As long time fans of Dwayne Johnson know, his first claim to fame was as the Rock in the WWE. Well, in Hobbs and Shaw, Hobbs made references to numerous catchphrases that Johnson used back in the WWE. In addition, Joe Anoa'i, who currently wrestles as Roman Reigns in the WWE, also has a small role in the film. And like Johnson, he makes references to his WWE character in the movie. (Incidentally, Johnson and Anoa'i are real-life cousins.) While all these wrestling references may get WWE fans excited, they just feel out of place here. At this point, Dwayne Johnson has long since established himself as a credible action star in Hollywood, and for the film to exploit his WWE past like this just feels like a cheap way to get a reaction.

From an action film standpoint, Hobbs and Shaw definitely checks everything off the list. Elaborate fight sequences, check. Explosive car chases, check. Big-name action stars, check. Clever banter between the characters, check. Sexy female characters, check. So by all counts, Hobbs and Shaw should be a smash hit. However, the unbelievable plot just makes the movie too far fetched among many critics. It still did well at the box office, though, grossing around $700 million worldwide. And from the ending of the movie, it is obvious that the writers have left the door open for a sequel. So who knows. Maybe we will get a Hobbs & Shaw 2. Assuming this next installment will be similar to the original, though, try not to think about the plot too much. You'll end up hurting your brain.