Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw

RATING: C

Remember when this series was about car racing? I'm not even sure Universal does anymore. We've seen this series evolve from street racing to the most ridiculous, over-the-top action franchise in existence that's been finding crazy ways to use cars or other automobiles in normal action scenes, even when it's totally impractical, as well as utilizing impossible stunts. They've gotten by due to some star power that's only increased over time, and the bits of the action that actually are entertaining. And now... we get the first spin-off in the series. Because Universal is desperate to hop on the "cinematic universe" train, and the "Dark Universe" failed after just one movie.

The concept of this movie isn't inherently bad. It wants to take the best thing of the last F&F movie--the frenemy-ship between The Rock and Jason Statham's characters--and make a buddy cop movie out of it. Not the worst idea, because they're both good action stars (who are unfortunately usually stuck in below-average movies) and they have good chemistry.

The problem is, it takes the high-tech espionage of the last 2-3 movies and ramps it up to eleven, taking the franchise straight into sci-fi territory of all things. Maybe they decided to embrace the fact that these movies are scarcely grounded in reality?

Well anyway, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw are called in to help stop Idris Elba, who's playing a bio-warfare terrorist--who is also a human-machine hybrid. Yes, seriously. He's bulletproof, and he has some kind of computer network in his brain that allows him to anticipate fight moves before they arrive. He even calls himself "black Superman." So now, despite being completely outmatched, Hobbs and Shaw must somehow defeat this guy with the help of Deckard's sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby)--who we've never met or heard of before because... reasons.

This movie rides a fine line between being silly popcorn action and being all too over-the-top to enjoy. There's definitely some fun action here--a car/motorcycle chase midway through is a standout. And a lot of the fisticuffs scenes are enjoyable as well. The partial problem is the sci-fi plot that doesn't feel like it belongs in this kind of movie. It doesn't help that there's vague allusions to a prior series villain being involved behind the scenes here, which only serves to make the franchise further convoluted.

But the bigger problem is a lot of the ridiculous writing and dialogue. Because that's often just as over-the-top, if not more. There are a lot of forced attempts at humor that fall flat on their faces. There are some funny moments, but several of them aren't directly from the dialogue (a hilarious retinal scan scene comes to mind). There's also the inclusion of Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart; the former's presence here is just annoying, and it feels like David Leitch is trying too hard to cash in on Deadpool there. Hart is okay, but it doesn't really feel like he needs to be here--essentially a pointless cameo.

Besides the occasionally good action and the isolated humorous moments, what does work is the acting--even if a lot of the lines they're saying are ridiculous. Surprisingly, The Rock doesn't seem as invested as usual this time. But Statham is definitely enjoying himself, as is Idris Elba. Vanessa Kirby--who you might recognize from Mission: Impossible 6--is also a great female lead, continuing to show her ability with facial expressions. Eiza Gonzalez also makes the most of her limited screentime. Some will enjoy Helen Mirren in her few minutes of time as well, although it feels like she's mostly there for the paycheck.

Hobbs and Shaw does unfortunately fall short of its potential. Granted, that ceiling wasn't high to begin with, but with a leading duo like this with decent chemistry, it certainly could've been better. But it's brought down by ridiculous writing. And not to mention the direction of the plot, which I imagine isn't a good sign for the franchise. Guess the Fast & Furious franchise going to space is inevitable at this point. Anyway, if you want your fix of The Rock and Statham together, you should probably just stick with Fate of the Furious--that movie's more enjoyable anyway (as far as that goes for a F&F movie, that is).