Hobbs and Shaw is the first stand-alone film in the Fast and Furious series. This film sees the unlikely team of Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) who is a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service and outcast Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who is a former British Military Elite Operative. This duo first faced each other in 2015's Fast & Furious 7. Hobbs and Shaw are an unlikely team as there is so much hatred between them. Yet they are forced to work together to take down the cyber-genetically enhanced antagonist Brixton (Idris Elba) when he gains control of a deadly virus that could alter humanity forever which is currently inside a rogue MI6 agent Hattie (Vanessa Kirby, who also happens to be Shaw's sister.
Hobbs and Shaw have to work together to extract this virus from Hattie before Brixton can do it himself. This film sets up Johnson and Statham's characters as two different kinds of masculinity: Hobbs is rugged and philosophical as he likes to read Nietzsche, in relation to Shaw who is refined yet can be seen as a bit rough around the edges. Throughout this film, insults are shot between Hobbs and Shaw towards each other but what makes this unlikely duo stop the insults and work together is their shared belief in family values.
Elba's character is a complete contrast to Johnson's and Statham's characters. Brixton has been genetically modified and refers to himself as "the black Superman". We get to watch Elba perform a type of character we don’t see often. He is tough, smart and powerful. Elba does a brilliant job in portraying this character effectively. We believe he is the main threat and we forget that really, he is working for someone else.
Dwayne Johnson is a beloved actor and is known for his fantastic performances in all his films. We know Johnson can be funny and make a scene have real emotion. What was enjoyable to see was Johnson using his Samoan roots in this film with the final part of the film being set in Samoa. Overall, Johnson gives a great performance with his unusual charm and humour.
Shaw, the other half of this new duo played by Jason Statham also gives a great performance in this film. Statham shows off his amazing driving skills. Even though, Shaw is a tough guy who you wouldn’t think could be emotional, we get to see another side to this character. Statham does a good job in portraying this character but also making moments you wouldn’t expect believable too.
Hattie is Shaw's martial arts, rogue MI6 agent sister played by Vanessa Kirby. This is the character that makes Hobbs and Shaw to stop fighting and making everything a contest and to work together. Hattie is a strong woman, yet she is sensitive too. The scene between the Shaw siblings where they believe all hope is lost is probably the saddest yet engaging moment of the film. Statham and Kirby are excellent, it’s a scene that shows the main theme behind this film which is family.
There are a lot of fight scenes throughout this film. You would think that after a while the fight scenes would become predictable and boring. Yet, each fight is different and all of them are interesting to watch. Each fight scene has a different mood to it, however what links all the fight scenes is there is elements of comedy which makes the scene more enjoyable as you’re not watching two men fight a bunch of other men again and again. Along with this, we feel adrenaline watching each fight scene due to these scenes being cut in a certain way that makes us excited to see what will happen next and what the outcome of each fight is going to be. What helps is the music that was used throughout. The rock music helps build up the tension in the fight scenes. These scenes were amazingly choregraphed and edited and had a real impact to the narrative.
Along with Johnson, Statham and Kirby there are some special appearances from Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart and Helen Mirren. Reynolds is always funny, and he adds a lot more comedy in this film too especially in the post-credit scenes. He may only have short screen time, but he makes a real impact. With this being said it appears Lock played by Reynolds is uncredited. Kevin Hart is always known to be funny yet here his jokes fell a bit short which is unusual for Hart. Finally, Shaw's mum, Queenie, is played by Helen Mirren who always gives an outstanding performance whatever her role is.
Overall, this film is something different to watch and was quite good. Full of action and a few laughs. Not everything was perfect, and some parts were a bit cheesy however this film still has heart. The performances were amazing from almost everyone. If you are a fan of the Fast & Furious franchise or new to it and never seen one of their films before, the narrative and characters are clear to understand. An unlikely duo who you wouldn’t pair together work together to save the world from a deadly virus, work well together and provide some laughs and a lot of action. There is a possibility for a second Hobbs and Shaw film which I think would be highly welcomed if it happens.
