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Review: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
I was pulling some double duty doing some computer clean up today, so I picked something fun and not too deep to watch today. This movie ended up being exactly what I expected, which in this case, is totally a good thing. Spoilers.
Story
Hattie, an MI6 agent, retrieved a virus from Eteon. Brixton interrupted the mission and killed the team. However, Hattie escaped, having injected the virus into her own body. Hobbs and Shaw (who is Hattie's brother) teamed up to save her. Brixton was a former co-worker of Shaw's, but Shaw supposedly killed him after refusing to join Eteon.
There was also a family story line, about Hobbs returning home for the first time in a long time, and Deckard Shaw reuniting with his sister.
There weren't too many Fast & Furious references which was good. The only thing that the audience needed to know was that Hobbs and Shaw didn't get along. Other than that, no crossovers, which was good because I think it would've distracted the audience.
I felt that the story was relatively complete, but of course it left a lot of doors open for future installments. While Brixton was defeated, Eteon informed Luke Hobbs, Deckard Shaw, and Hattie Shaw that they were on their radar now. The mystery leader implied that he and Hobbs knew each other.
The first post-credit scene was between Hobbs and Locke, the CIA agent who'd recruited Hobbs for the job to begin with. I had a bit of a feeling that maybe Locke was the leader of Eteon. The Wikipedia page said that Keanu Reeves was in negotiation to play the character, but the voicework was assumed to be done by Ryan Reynolds.
Deckard and Hattie visited their mother in prison and presented her with a cake, which implied that they were there to break their mother out.
So basically, in the next movie, I think we can expect Luke Hobbs, Deckard Shaw, and Hattie Shaw as mains, with Queenie Shaw and Dinkley as supporting actors and Locke as maybe the big bad villain or at the very least a supporting actor.
Characters
I thought the cast was pretty stacked, even in terms of the supporting actors and the cameos. In that regard, the acting felt very crisp because certain actors, such as Helen Mirren, Idris Elba, and Ryan Reynolds can be relied on for great performances, and certain actors like the Rock and Jason Statham can be relied on to deliver their own brand of action hero.
Luke Hobbs
He was the big brutish guy with no finesse. I think the Rock was already well-loved in not only the Fast & Furious franchise, but most of his movie appearances in general. In this movie, I think he mostly played himself and that seemed to please the audience.
Deckard Shaw
Deckard Shaw was the classical "British villain" type of character, with expensive tastes. Like the Rock, I do also think that Jason Statham was acting pretty naturally. Deckard Shaw isn't that complex of a character, so he just needed to add a few portions of asshole to his character to make it work.
Hattie Shaw
Hattie was the new major character of this side franchise. I think we can definitely expect her to be a constant fixture in the upcoming Hobbs & Shaw films (considering she's also a Shaw).
I thought she was fine in this film. Like the other two mains, she wasn't the most complex of characters. She was a skilled spy but I'll have to admit that I can't pinpoint her personality too well.
Brixton Lore
I've long associated Idris Elba with serious dramas (except for maybe Pacific Rim), but it was kind of impressive that he didn't look out of place at all in a fun action thriller such as this movie. In addition, I've rarely seen Idris Elba play an asshole, so this was pretty fun, seeing him turn up the quips and the charm (in his original British accent).
He was a typical baddie. He had a history with Deckard Shaw and they fell out when Shaw literally shot him because he wouldn't side with Eteon. Brixton was instructed by Eteon not to kill Shaw, so he begrudgingly kept him alive, but when given the opportunity to kill him, he didn't hesitate.
In the end, Brixton was portrayed to be a sort of weak pawn who was to be disposed of. I thought this was a bit of a disservice to Brixton Lore, seeing as Idris Elba had done a pretty compelling job at his portrayal, but I'm not going to get too worked up over it.
Locke
After the end, when the leader of Eteon was revealed to be someone that Hobbs knew, my suspicions surrounding Locke shot up. We saw a post-credit scene of Locke calling Hobbs because of another possible virus outbreak. Locke was around a bunch of beat up guys. In the phone call to Hobbs, Locke said that the blood on his shirt was not his. So I think it wasn't unreasonable to think that Locke had actually broken in to the facility to steal the virus for Eteon, and was at that point calling Hobbs to set him up on another mission where he'd be fighting Eteon again.
I thought Ryan Reynolds was fine in this movie. He didn't go too over the top with his gags. He just reached the edge of bearability in dragging out his gags.
Jonah Hobbs
He was Luke Hobbs brother who lived in Samoa and was a tech expert. Probably a supporting character for future instalments.
Queenie Shaw
I like Helen Mirren so I thought it was nice that she was in this movie for a little bit. Deckard and Hattie were going to break her out of prison in the post-credits, so I assume she's going to be support personnel for Deckard and Hattie in the future, like an "M" character for her kids.
Dinkley
Kevin Hart was alright as Dinkley. His main service to the plot was to helps Hobbs, Deckard, and Hattie from the Eteon facility to Samoa. I can see him serving a similar role in future films, when the team needs emergency flights from one place to another. Kind of a little too convenient, but that one event would give Kevin Hart an opportunity for a short gag in future movies too.
Other
I thought the beginning scenes contrasting Hobbs and Shaw were fun. They were supposed to juxtapose Hobbs the rough guy against Shaw the smooth classy guy, both in their personal tastes and their fighting styles. Anyway, these scenes allowed the movie to start off in a fun way, which is appropriate because the Fast & Furious is all about fun.
The banter and pettiness between Hobbs and Shaw were main selling point of the movie. There were scenes like the airplane scene where they were simply hurling insults at each other in conversation. But I also really enjoyed that scene when they first tried to rescue Hattie from being captured by Brixton. Shaw went down the elevator whereas Hobbs went down the rope, and they still managed to exchange unpleasantries in such a situation.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Fast & Furious movie without crazy car maneuvers. Hobbs and his brothers linked cars together to try to prevent a plane from flying. At one point, the chain slipped and Hobbs had to pull back the chain with his bare hands, which I'm pretty sure was something that'd happened in a previous Fast & Furious movie.
I did think the romantic subplot between Hobbs and Hattie was largely unnecessary as they'd gone through the entire film without needing to explore that at all.
Overall
This was a pretty fun movie, I must admit. It was more of a regular action movie and less about cars. The comedy wasn't overblown which was good, and the story didn't try to be overly complicated. It focused on a simple main story line and the relationship between Hobbs and Shaw. I would definitely recommend it as a fun popcorn flick.
Story
Hattie, an MI6 agent, retrieved a virus from Eteon. Brixton interrupted the mission and killed the team. However, Hattie escaped, having injected the virus into her own body. Hobbs and Shaw (who is Hattie's brother) teamed up to save her. Brixton was a former co-worker of Shaw's, but Shaw supposedly killed him after refusing to join Eteon.
There was also a family story line, about Hobbs returning home for the first time in a long time, and Deckard Shaw reuniting with his sister.
There weren't too many Fast & Furious references which was good. The only thing that the audience needed to know was that Hobbs and Shaw didn't get along. Other than that, no crossovers, which was good because I think it would've distracted the audience.
I felt that the story was relatively complete, but of course it left a lot of doors open for future installments. While Brixton was defeated, Eteon informed Luke Hobbs, Deckard Shaw, and Hattie Shaw that they were on their radar now. The mystery leader implied that he and Hobbs knew each other.
The first post-credit scene was between Hobbs and Locke, the CIA agent who'd recruited Hobbs for the job to begin with. I had a bit of a feeling that maybe Locke was the leader of Eteon. The Wikipedia page said that Keanu Reeves was in negotiation to play the character, but the voicework was assumed to be done by Ryan Reynolds.
Deckard and Hattie visited their mother in prison and presented her with a cake, which implied that they were there to break their mother out.
So basically, in the next movie, I think we can expect Luke Hobbs, Deckard Shaw, and Hattie Shaw as mains, with Queenie Shaw and Dinkley as supporting actors and Locke as maybe the big bad villain or at the very least a supporting actor.
Characters
I thought the cast was pretty stacked, even in terms of the supporting actors and the cameos. In that regard, the acting felt very crisp because certain actors, such as Helen Mirren, Idris Elba, and Ryan Reynolds can be relied on for great performances, and certain actors like the Rock and Jason Statham can be relied on to deliver their own brand of action hero.
Luke Hobbs
He was the big brutish guy with no finesse. I think the Rock was already well-loved in not only the Fast & Furious franchise, but most of his movie appearances in general. In this movie, I think he mostly played himself and that seemed to please the audience.
Deckard Shaw
Deckard Shaw was the classical "British villain" type of character, with expensive tastes. Like the Rock, I do also think that Jason Statham was acting pretty naturally. Deckard Shaw isn't that complex of a character, so he just needed to add a few portions of asshole to his character to make it work.
Hattie Shaw
Hattie was the new major character of this side franchise. I think we can definitely expect her to be a constant fixture in the upcoming Hobbs & Shaw films (considering she's also a Shaw).
I thought she was fine in this film. Like the other two mains, she wasn't the most complex of characters. She was a skilled spy but I'll have to admit that I can't pinpoint her personality too well.
Brixton Lore
I've long associated Idris Elba with serious dramas (except for maybe Pacific Rim), but it was kind of impressive that he didn't look out of place at all in a fun action thriller such as this movie. In addition, I've rarely seen Idris Elba play an asshole, so this was pretty fun, seeing him turn up the quips and the charm (in his original British accent).
He was a typical baddie. He had a history with Deckard Shaw and they fell out when Shaw literally shot him because he wouldn't side with Eteon. Brixton was instructed by Eteon not to kill Shaw, so he begrudgingly kept him alive, but when given the opportunity to kill him, he didn't hesitate.
In the end, Brixton was portrayed to be a sort of weak pawn who was to be disposed of. I thought this was a bit of a disservice to Brixton Lore, seeing as Idris Elba had done a pretty compelling job at his portrayal, but I'm not going to get too worked up over it.
Locke
After the end, when the leader of Eteon was revealed to be someone that Hobbs knew, my suspicions surrounding Locke shot up. We saw a post-credit scene of Locke calling Hobbs because of another possible virus outbreak. Locke was around a bunch of beat up guys. In the phone call to Hobbs, Locke said that the blood on his shirt was not his. So I think it wasn't unreasonable to think that Locke had actually broken in to the facility to steal the virus for Eteon, and was at that point calling Hobbs to set him up on another mission where he'd be fighting Eteon again.
I thought Ryan Reynolds was fine in this movie. He didn't go too over the top with his gags. He just reached the edge of bearability in dragging out his gags.
Jonah Hobbs
He was Luke Hobbs brother who lived in Samoa and was a tech expert. Probably a supporting character for future instalments.
Queenie Shaw
I like Helen Mirren so I thought it was nice that she was in this movie for a little bit. Deckard and Hattie were going to break her out of prison in the post-credits, so I assume she's going to be support personnel for Deckard and Hattie in the future, like an "M" character for her kids.
Dinkley
Kevin Hart was alright as Dinkley. His main service to the plot was to helps Hobbs, Deckard, and Hattie from the Eteon facility to Samoa. I can see him serving a similar role in future films, when the team needs emergency flights from one place to another. Kind of a little too convenient, but that one event would give Kevin Hart an opportunity for a short gag in future movies too.
Other
I thought the beginning scenes contrasting Hobbs and Shaw were fun. They were supposed to juxtapose Hobbs the rough guy against Shaw the smooth classy guy, both in their personal tastes and their fighting styles. Anyway, these scenes allowed the movie to start off in a fun way, which is appropriate because the Fast & Furious is all about fun.
The banter and pettiness between Hobbs and Shaw were main selling point of the movie. There were scenes like the airplane scene where they were simply hurling insults at each other in conversation. But I also really enjoyed that scene when they first tried to rescue Hattie from being captured by Brixton. Shaw went down the elevator whereas Hobbs went down the rope, and they still managed to exchange unpleasantries in such a situation.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Fast & Furious movie without crazy car maneuvers. Hobbs and his brothers linked cars together to try to prevent a plane from flying. At one point, the chain slipped and Hobbs had to pull back the chain with his bare hands, which I'm pretty sure was something that'd happened in a previous Fast & Furious movie.
I did think the romantic subplot between Hobbs and Hattie was largely unnecessary as they'd gone through the entire film without needing to explore that at all.
Overall
This was a pretty fun movie, I must admit. It was more of a regular action movie and less about cars. The comedy wasn't overblown which was good, and the story didn't try to be overly complicated. It focused on a simple main story line and the relationship between Hobbs and Shaw. I would definitely recommend it as a fun popcorn flick.