Film Review | Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw

Although Hobbs and Shaw are characters featured in The Fast and the Furious series, this movie stands alone.

You get a crash course, literally and visually, in who Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) are, their skills at disposing of villains, or anyone who gets in the way, while sledging each other.

Hobbs is a federal agent; Shaw is a rogue British spy who is now back in favour with the British government.

There is a skeleton of an idea about a cyber-enhanced human, Brixton (ldris Elba), who wants to acquire a deadly virus that will eliminate the weakest members of the human race and establish a better world full of cyber-humans.

Hobbs and Shaw's mission is to prevent Brixton from acquiring the virus.

The complication is that the virus capsules are embedded in the bloodstream of Shaw's daughter Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), which adds complexity to the mix, although complexity is not a word that sits comfortably with a Fast and Furious film.

Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw's sole purpose is to engage the audience's auditory and visual cortexes and thrash them within an inch of their centrifugal superchargers.

In between the action sequences, car pursuit and helicopter chases, Hobbs and Shaw exchange insults before once again eliminating the baddies until the final confrontation with Brixton that will determine the future of humanity.

There's only one way this is going to end. Who do you think will win?

Fast and Furious is all noise and fury in the form of explosions and insanely ridiculous stunts involving cars, motorcycles, four wheel drives and helicopters, often all in the one sequence.

Hobbs and Shaw is similar to a James Bond film - evil villain plots to overthrow the order of society with a dastardly weapon before the hero saves the day.

In the case of Hobbs and Shaw, it takes two of them to do the job.

This allows the inclusion of a buddy element. Despite initially despising each other, Hobbs and Shaw gradually become fond of one other as they team-up to overcome Brixton.

Hobbs and Shaw's sensitive side is made evident in the film's climactic scene set in Samoa. The film establishes its credentials by acknowledging Samoan cultural customs before the mayhem begins.

Sensitive or not, it's all secondary to the film's real purpose. Fast and Furious: Shaw and Hobbs provides the audience with superficial excitement delivered at a frantic pace.