Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written August 5th, 2018*

2019 in cinema continues to underwhelm and disappoint. Hobbs and Shaw is both the ninth entry and first spin-off of this unlikely franchise that started as a piece of early 2000's cringe about street-racing and wanking off onto a car bonnet or something. No one would have expected this series to go as far as it has or get as big as its gotten, but then the fifth film came along and changed things. It was no longer about getting your dick hard over a bit of vibrating engine and metal, they became ludicrously dumb and entertaining action films that continued to push the boundaries of insanity with each one.

Which is why I guess I'm a little underwhelmed by this first spin-off starring Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson as the titular Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs. This is a fun film, as it should be, for the most part. It just never lives up to its potential, which feels like something I've been saying far too much for films in 2019. The same Fast and Furious gonzo and insane set-pieces are still here, but it lacks the surprising heart of the main series and the ensemble cast.

Johnson and Statham no doubt have great chemistry together, which is why some of the strongest scenes from Fate of the Furious was their stuff together, so it's easy to see why they would pair these two up for their own spin-off together. It's just a shame that a lot of the jokes and banter between them feels so juvenile and lame, I was surprised at just how many dick jokes were crammed into the first half. Honestly, I was astonished, I've not heard that many references to cock and balls since the last time I saw a Seth Rogen film.

The plot they're thrown into is very by the numbers and generic. The mismatched pair have to team up despite hating each other (Didn't they get over that in the 8th film?) in order to take down Idris Elba's genocidal cyborg soldier who wants to destroy most of the population with a virus that ends up in the hands of Shaw's MI6 agent sister (Vanessa Kirby). Yeah, it's a hell of a long way from the days of undercover cops and street-racing.

When I first heard Idris Elba was playing a cyborg enhanced super-soldier called Brixton, I couldn't think of anything better. Something as nonsensical and absurd as that to push this series further and further into insanity. Sadly, he's a little underwhelming. It's not all Elba's fault though, he does a fine job with what he's given, bringing a certain menace and charisma to the role, it's just the character that's very underwritten. He has some really cool moments and his arsenal of sci-fi gadgets and physics defying motorbike is awesome, but his motivations are the same as several villains as of late - "Wipe out loads of the world's population in order to save it", it's oddly dull. 

The real breakout star here was Vanessa Kirby, which I did not expect at all. She really holds her own in action scenes and looks like she has a promising career ahead of her in the genre. She even has much stronger moments and lines than either Statham and Johnson. I hope to see much more of her in this series, whether it be the main series or the inevitable sequel to Hobbs and Shaw.

With David Leitch directing, I had no worries about the action on display here, he did a wonderful job with John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, so it was awesome to see him work with such a huge budget. His work is easily the strongest stuff on display here and where Hobbs and Shaw really comes alive. It's a shame all the action is spoiled in the trailers, but Leitch really does have a handle on things here. From the gravity and physics defying vehicle stunts to the surprisingly crunchy hand-to-hand stuff, it all feels very fun and creative without living up to insanity of the main series, but it's still wonderfully more crazy and over the top than most films with a budget like this would allow.

It's just a shame the downtime between the chaotic scenes of action seem to drag on so much, it has its moments and a very fun cameo, but it honestly feels about 30 minutes too long with so much that could have been cut for a much leaner and easier to watch film. Some gags and jokes drag on for so long they start to feel like a Family Guy sketch, it just goes on and on. I feel like there's a much better film few cuts away from what we got here.


Hobbs and Shaw just feels a bit too by the numbers for a series as insane and crazy as Fast and Furious. There's fun to be had with the really fun set-pieces and seeing Statham and Johnson together, but it all just feels a little underwhelming and not as fun as it could have been. Passable entertainment, but another 2019 film that didn't live up to its potential.

6/10 Dans

Watch the trailer below:

Hobbs and Shaw is out now cinemas in UK and a 4K UHD Steelbook is available to pre-order from HMV

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Fast and Furious 7 (2015) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written December 11th, 2015*

"Pure Nonsense"

"Fuck it" must have been a phrased very overused when writing the script for the seventh (Yes, seventh) entry in the increasingly interesting blockbuster franchise. I really doubt anyone who saw the original Point Break knock-off in 2001 would have ever thought this series would be breaking the billion dollar mark and not just be making a seventh entry, but the seventh being the best of the whole lot.

James Wan (Saw, Death Sentence) takes over the director's chair from Justin Lin with a story that is just complete nonsense. Jason Statham plays the brother of the bad guy from the last film and he wants revenge, so Vin Diesel and his team of superheroes(?!) go on the offensive to take him down.

There's also some silly stuff about a government weapon that can locate anyone in the world that takes the crew on a globetrotting adventure with increasingly chaotic results.

While I think the first 4 films in this franchise suck (That said, I still have yet to see Tokyo Drift), they really found themselves when they introduced The Rock and ditched the street racing bollocks for a straight-forward heist film and the sequels all just lean towards action. 

And in terms of action, Furious 7 knocks it out of the park again with some truly absurd set-pieces. Driving cars out of skyscrapers, parachuting cars, levelling the streets of L.A. and of course the Jason Statham beating The Rock in a hand to hand fight. It is all crazy stuff that is a far cry from what the series started as, and for that, it is all that much better. These characters have all become invulnerable superheroes, the stuff they survive would kill any of the Avengers. 

Also, after spending 7 films with all these characters, you start to kinda like them? Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome or just the fact the barbarically lame jokes were cut down for this one, but I seem to enjoy spending time with these characters, they have a good and likeable dynamic by this point. It's a shame that The Rock was cut down to about 3 scenes this time around, but when he's on, he steals the show with his always perfect charisma.

We also get the new bad guy with Jason Statham. Who was just fine, he does his usual Statham thing, although it was nice to see him as a full-blown villain for once. There is no depth to his character at all, he is just a complete revenge machine, which in all honesty, I enjoyed. I did find it funny that the crew wanted to use this "all seeing eye" government weapon in order to find him, but during nearly every set-piece he shows up to try and kill them anyway, kinda making that whole side plot a bit pointless?

Of course, there is the Paul Walker situation (He died in a car crash during the production of the film), which you all know about, and it was handled remarkably well. The tribute at the end is surprisingly touching and the CGI isn't distracting at all. It will feel weird without him in the next one, but they handled his exit with grace and in a way that would have made me cry if I had anything close to resembling a soul.

Fast and Furious 7 or Furious 7, is exactly what it tries to be and knows what it is, making it a hugely entertaining action film with some truly mental set-pieces and even has a surprising heart at the centre of it. I know there are 3 more of these films planned before the franchise (maybe) calls it quits, but screw it, I say bring it on. I cannot wait to see how they top the madness on display here.

8/10 Dans

Fast and Furious 7 is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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Fast and Furious 8 (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written April 20th, 2017*

The Fast and Furious franchise continues to be the most fascinating film series to come out of Hollywood. We are so far removed from the extremely lame street-racing days of the early 2000's and they've fully embraced the utter absurdity of what Fast and Furious means these days.

You know exactly what to expect from this series by now. A nonsensical amount of action scenes and defying any kind of logic known to man. If you go in expecting realism, well, then you look stupider than the films. These films do it right, they have likeable casts, creative and fun action that is surprisingly unique and inspired. It's a far cry from the garbage Michael Bay shits out and how summer blockbuster films should be done.

Charlize Theron and Vin Diesel

This time around Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto goes rogue and turns on his family due to the influence of cyber terrorist 'Cypher' played by Charlize Theron. Dom's family and a few new members to the team (Including Furious 7's villain Jason Statham) go on a mission to get Dom back and stop Cypher.

It's simple stuff that I'm amazed managed to last 135 minutes, but it did and that runtime flew by. 8 films into this franchise now and they're still topping themselves with such creatively fun action scenes. Furious 8 is probably the most insane one yet. The New York set-piece with thousands of "zombie" cars was a particular standout, but the final act involves some utter chaos. F. Gary Grey does a great job filming such carnage, no shakey-cam bullshit. There's a lot of CGI, some of which is very noticeable, but what they used it for would have been borderline impossible to do practically, so I can forgive it.

There might be a little bit of stockholm syndrome involved with me and these characters at this point, but I was genuinely interested when the trailers revealed Dom was going rogue and turning on his family. There was a lot of theories online about why he does it (Including one where he might actually be a Terminator), the most obvious one seemed that Cypher has Paul Walker and his family hostage, which thankfully wasn't the case. What they did do worked suprisingly well, it even goes to some pretty dark places for such a stupid film.

Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson

The Paul Walker situation is handled with as much care as they could. Walker isn't replaced on the team and he's nowhere to be seen. There are some mentions of him and a really, really weird tribute to him at the end, which makes no sense in the Fast and Furious universe. Still, they addressed it and it was fine for the most part.

Charlize Theron's hacker terrorist was merely okay. Her performance was decent, she does the ice-cold monster thing very well, it's just a shame and a wasted opportunity that not once in the film does she get the chance to drive a vehicle or get involved in an action scene at all, except for when she's hacking things on They've left it open for her to return to the franchise, so I hope she gets more to do if she is to return.

The standouts are by far The Rock and Jason Statham, who work extremely well together. Statham even has the honour of the most batshit insane action scene of the entire film, which is saying something. The rest of the cast do their thing. I found a couple of the members really annoying, but that's more due to the writers than the performances. There's the odd lame joke that really falls flat, which reminded me a lot of the Marvel films. This is a problem I've had with the series since Fast 5, but in all honesty, I laughed at this one more than I have with any of the others, so it's a step in the right direction.

Kurt Russell (Sadly not in drag)

Helen Mirren also has a small, but scene stealing role as the mother of Jason Statham and Luke Evan's Shaw Brothers, although her accent is a bit over the top and comical. She's another character who's introduced to, I assume, be expanded on in future films. I wouldn't even mind an entire spin-off based around the Shaw family at this point.

I'm not entirely sure if I preferred Furious 8 to the previous film or not. 7 certainly had more heart and emotion due to Paul Walker's death, but Furious 8 more than makes up for it with everything else. I'm still really excited to see where the franchise goes next. For the past 2 films I've said "There can't be anything left they can do", but for 2 films running now they've proved me wrong. Keep them coming. Hollywood's most interesting franchise.

Fast and Furious 8 is exactly what you'd expect from the franchise at this point. If you're looking for a smart, meaningful and realistic film, then just fuck off, but if you're looking for a loud, fun, creative, funny and insanely entertaining film, then Furious 8 is exactly what you need.

8/10 Dans

Fast and Furious 8 is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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