THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
You ever have one of those movies where you doubt it’s success but end up somehow enjoying it afterwards? For me, it was the Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw.
PLOT
The film follows Hattie Shaw, an MI6 agent who leads a team to extract a super virus named 'Snowflake'. Her team gets executed by Brixton, an opeative of Eteon who has cybernetic implants that make him super strong and agile. She extracts herself with the virus to avoid it going in the wrong hands and is framed by her new adversary in the process. The only two that are assigned to find her are her brother Deckard Shaw and DSS agent Luke Hobbs. While they are the best at what they do, they still do not see eye to eye despite saving the world. Luke finds her before he can, which surprises him when regrouping at the Leadenhall Building that she is Deckard's sister. Just when Hattie admits that the virus is inside her, Brixton attempts to abduct her but the other two protagonists save her. During the conflict, Deckard recognizes him when killing him years prior, later explaining this to Luke. Just when they get away from him, all three are framed as traitors via Eteon's control of global news media. They do find Professor Andreiko (Eddie Marsan), the creator of Snowflake. He explains that he intentionally designed it as a vaccine when Eteon wanted it to eradicate humanity. He then claims that the only way to get the virus out of Hattie's body is with an extraction device that belongs in an Eteon facility in Chernobyl. When they fly undercover to Ukraine, the professor is found and abducted by Brixton. Upon arrival, the three meet up with an old flame of Deckard's named Margarita (Eiza Gonzalez), who leads a group that steals from mobsters. The plan is to have Hattie intentionally handed to Brixton to get to the extraction machine, while the two men sneak in to Chernobyl to rescue her. Despite getting armed, they get outnumbered by Brixton's army. When he attempts to recruit them, Andreiko summons a distraction by shooting a flamethrower at Brixton. Hattie does get the extraction machine, but it got damaged during their escape. Luke suggests going to his childhood home of Samoa because his brother Jonah is a talented mechanic. They arrive thanks to their private flight being booked by air marshal they met named Dinkley. Luke is not positively welcomed by Jonah at first because he left after turning in their father for theft and using his children as a crew. Jonah is only convinced to help for the sake of their mother. He does fix the machine and it begins extraction. The Hobbs family build a defense to prepare for Brixton who eventually finds them. Before battle, Luke apologizes to Jonah for abandoning the family. By dawn, the odds are in favor of our protagonists as Hattie disables their guns for at least six minutes. Brixton retrieves her again but both protagonists catch up. With the help of Jonah and their brothers, they bring down the helicopter. Although it crashes, Hattie is not injured. Hobbs & Shaw finally get on the same page to fight Brixton together when they realize he can pinpoint individual attacks to counter them. As Hattie gets Snowflake completely extracted from her body, both men injure their foe. His anonymous director chooses to trigger his kill switch, causing his body to fall off the island. The director also acknowledges Hobbs and promises retribution. While there is right to worry of the future, the trio celebrate victory. The film ends with multiple post credit sequences: Luke eventually brings his daughter to Samoa to meet his bloodline, in which she grew interest before his mission. Deckard & Hattie visit their mother Magdalene (Dame Helen Mirren) in prison, implying to break her out. CIA agent Victor Locke warns Luke that there is a virus that is supposably worse than Snowflake. And finally, Luke pranks Deckard which results in him being apprehended by the police. Since he called prior, Deckard promises to see him again.
THOUGHTS
I got to check this out in theaters back in 2019 and I was caught off guard to say I enjoyed this film more than I thought. Director David Leitch takes us far away from The Fast Saga, as in not give us a single street race and rely solely on the action as a spy film that the franchise later grew to be. It sounds risky but it somehow paid off. Considering how this franchise has grew to be over the top, every fight/chase sequence remained as such and I mostly accepted it in this franchise's perspective. Of all scenes, I enjoyed Chernobyl scene the most because it wastruly the shocking nature of insanity that can ensue in a movie like this. Aside from that, my main reason to stay onboard is the solid ensemble we got. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham were a duo I definitely didn't think I'd enjoy due to how different they were. But that was the whole point and because of that, I do believe they have good chemistry. This time around, their characters have a new layer of depth between their bickering. We understand Hobbs to be a prideful figure, but this comes from his past of regret. Despite doing the right thing, he knew he was wrong to ditch his family. So when push come to shove, it was time to stop avoiding the sole demon that was haunting him. Since he eventually brought his daughter along, you can tell that he is whole this time around. Shaw always stood out compared to Hobbs because aside from his own set of dry wit, he is much faster than his foe turned ally. As shown before, he is a family man and is willing to do his best to protect him, no matter how far he'll go. So when it came to his sister, he did his best to put grudges aside to the point of trusting those he wouldn't consider doing so at first. Leaning into the newcomers, I enjoyed Vanessa Kirby here much more than what she got in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, due to getting more depth this time around. As Hattie, she does a good job showing her off to be as fearless as her siblings because of how she was willing to expose herself to a virus, determined to not the world suffer. Even her own selflessness made you respect her. Since she is still around by the end, there really is no telling what her and her family will do next. Seeing the journey these three had taught me the benefit of being willing to work with those different from you. I don't want to overrate Cliff Curtis but I truly think he was slept on in this movie. As Jonah, he is a man full of pride yet full of hate. When Luke left, he felt betrayed and didn't know how to cope losing their dad. While some people expect more out of those who make mistakes, saying 'sorry' was enough for him. The reason that this film is film is hilarious aside from the bickering between both leads are the suprise cameos from Ryan Reynolds' Locke, Kevin Hart's Dinkley and Rob Delaney's Loeb. They were so unexpected that you just can't help laugh your ass off on how they're the last people you'd think of in a movie like this. Last but not least, Idris Elba is definitely pulls off making a memorable villain out of Brixton. He may not be like Cipher, but he makes his mark for being the most ruthless this franchise has ever seen. That is mainly because he lives up to being Black Superman due to being genetically modified. You go up against a spy that's almost superhuman, the chances of getting an ass whipping are high. While his time of a terminator came to an end after defeat, Eteon has clearly just begun. So whoever is mysterious director, he/she has to live up to the expectations on being the baddest of the bunch. Just because that I admit that it’s fun does not mean there aren’t any issues. First off, Brixton can calculate an attack probability but still miss his target? Eteon is an advanced corporation and this is an issue because if they want their top asset to be unstoppable, he shouldn’t be aiming like a stormtrooper. I know Deckard is supposed to be in this movie because it’s partially named after him, but isn’t it conflict of interest if families are involved in a case? Yes he is skilled, but anyone could’ve teamed up with Hobbs and we would’ve gotten the same result. Hell, Locke would’ve been random but it would’ve remained interesting nonetheless. I know the bickering between both protagonists is funny in some way, but why is this so? Yes Deckard attacked Hobbs but he switched sides when it came to Cipher and the two seemingly hit it off before chasing Dom in NY. If there original amends is retconned, that ain’t cool. Also, How did Hobbs find out where Hattie without us seeing any clues? We know he’s a skilled tracker, but that ain’t worth glossing over. That’s more odd than how he didn’t connect how she’s a Shaw. I know observance is key when you’re a spy, but how the hell did Deckard recognize the newspaper Andreiko buys from a black and white on a cellphone? He didn’t even zoom it and still figured it out. On top of that, the CIA couldn’t even figure out the one routine we see that is going to his favorite newsstand. That just made no damn sense to me because agencies are still being presented as dumbasses on film and it’s annoying. I guess it is sensible to extract the virus from Hattie it eliminates the length of time to make a new one. But at the same time, doesn’t it sound smarter to let her die from the virus and not waste time hunting her down if you got the guy who can make a new one? If Brixton really wanted it make things easy, he should’ve lied to his superior and said one of his henchmen shot her on accident. The side to side fight scene was funny, but why didn’t Deckard go to Hobbs’ side if he was having a hard time getting in? And why didn’t he use his infrared before passing through the next door? His intelligence really disappeared during that sequence. Of all the reality bending moments I’ve seen in this franchise, I’ve had to say Hobbs holding on a flying helicopter in place with a chain is the cake’s icing on being the most ridiculous because there is no way he is that strong. I like Hobbs but his arm should’ve ripped off. Yes, I think this is more ridiculous than what we would see in the follow ups after this. I had a hard time looking past this but if you can, you can enjoy it for what it is. To wrap up, Hobbs & Shaw may be an unnecessary spin-off but somehow finds a way to be entertaining throughout. If you are still a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise, check this out when you can.
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