Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw Review

With Hobbs & Shaw, the franchise of the Fast & the Furious franchise is slowly evolving towards what she wants it to be at all times. This ninth installment and the first spin-off of Universe's hugely lucrative franchise hardly resembles the 2001 film that sparked off all but a handful of smart headlines and reminders. But in many ways, it's better for him. When Fast Five breathed new life into the series in 2011, it was Dwayne Johnson, in the role of Luke Hobbs, who became the symbol of this creative resurgence, intensifying the intrigues of race and crime to hire the main heroes to achieve prestigious burglaries for the government. Johnson has not left the franchise since, bringing the enormous amount of energy and charisma that makes him one of the most entertaining stars of Hollywood at each of his entrances. Fortunately, Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw, the electric villain of Furious 7, has nothing to do. t left no more.

Hobbs & Shaw is fortunately quick to unite his two tracks. After an opening scene featuring Idris Elba as the villainous cyborg of the film, Brixton Lore, as well as the fiercely fierce sister of Shaw's MI6, Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), we briefly catch up with the titular heroes in their personal lives before that they do not receive the same call to action. The scenario of Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce uses the old ploy of "the virus that will annihilate the world", which all series of high-octane espionage use before. For Hobbs, saving the world is another job, but for Shaw, it's a personal quest to save his sister, who is away from it.

Hobbs & Shaw Gallery

Not that she needs a lot of savings. The "Shaw" in the title might as well be plural, because Hattie is almost as kicks as her two male counterparts. And not for nothing, Kirby transfers in this film the deliciously enigmatic energy she brought to this past summer in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, with a stronger lead role. Better yet, with Johnson, Statham and Elba as stars of the action, he is also the only leading actress to have anything to prove here. Boy, she succeeds. Kirby really plays his part in his action scenes (a bit like Tom Cruise repeats, like Ethan Hunt), adding to every punch and kick more than the men with whom she shares the screen . And when she's not fighting, she has the attitude and the charisma of carrying the film through her barely connected intrigue. Give this woman an action vehicle of her own. Like tomorrow.

It's an unexpected pleasure for the duo to become essentially a trio, but those who have come to watch Johnson and Statham compete with villains will certainly be satisfied. Fast & the Furious movies are getting lighter and more fun, but Hobbs & Shaw may be the first to be called action comedy. A lot of what these two do together on the screen is fun, even though most jokes boil down to who can contract harder and who has supposedly bigger private ones.

These two stars are largely able to sell the tired comic material given to them on chemistry and screen only. One can almost feel them competing to outdo each other on the set, and in a few cases, director David Leitch seems to let them launch improvised insults with each other with intense close-ups to capture every little facial aggression. It just works, and Johnson and Statham are simply better at instant gaming and physical comedy. In these insulting affronts, there are about three, the film feels very complacent to have managed to bring together these two megastars, which makes it a little confusing. As big as they are, they do not hold the candle to say what Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista have staged in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Yet, the action works largely. After Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, Leitch proves once again his skill in close-range shooting here. All melee scenes are excellent, where some of the biggest pieces on the set are interpreted as Michael Bay-lite, with explosions and computer graphics swirling in a sometimes incomprehensible storm.

A bigger problem, however, is the length of the film. At two hours and fifteen minutes, Hobbs & Shaw can no longer keep the charm of its stars between major action sequences. The story lags, and it does not help that at the moment when we have the impression to end, the script is withdrawn and sets up a new plot of half an hour. The film has almost two-thirds of its own, and the Elbe's turn as a self-proclaimed "Black Superman" is neither strong enough nor deep enough to sustain legitimate tensions in one or the other. Brixton Lore is a villain of a note for which Elba is simply present to add some dramatic frills and volutes in the place of a real personality.

However, the central philosophy of the franchise remains intact. While Shaw fights for her family to stay united (Helen Mirren resumes her role of criminal matriarch during some scenes), it's Hobbs who must learn the value of her own roots in the end, with a visit to Samoa for the Final battle highlights a culture not often seen on the film. It's a bit forced, but it's at least fun to see how Fast's first spin-off finds a way to keep the same temperature on the family's core values ​​(as ridiculously as they can be).