Super Fun

We went in assuming that Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) was nothing more than a fluffy action movie. We were right, and that was fine.

Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is a California-based law officer turned spy, while Shaw (Jason Statham) is a London-based criminal turned spy. There is a virus loose - and it resides in the body of Statham’s sister, Vanessa Kirby, who works for MI-6 and 7/8s. She was recovering it from some hijackers when Black Superman Iris Elba shows up - he is inhumanly fast, strong, and wears bullet-proof armor. So the powers that be call in Hobbs and Shaw.

Part of the fun is how much Hobbs and Shaw hate each other. They spend almost all of the movie sniping at and sabotaging each other. Another part is how they mirror each other. They are introduced with a split screen, showing them eating breakfast (Hobbs eating instant coffee crystals and a dozen raw eggs, Shaw making an omelet) then going out to get info (Hobbs on a motorcycle, Shaw in a McLaren) and so forth. There’s a great scene where they have to fight their way through two parallel rooms, separated by a pane of glass. Each takes a room and deals with whatever comes up, in their separate but equally awesome way.

For the first 2/3s, this is a great action film. Elba makes a great villain, with almost too much power, who always gets to fume and snarl when Hobbs and Shaw escape his clutches - say, by hitting him with a bus. He also has a neat self-driving motorcycle. And we get Helen Mirren as Statham and Kirby’s mom. Then we get to meet some of Hobbs’ family.

The whole gang goes to Samoa, to get help from Johnson’s estranged family. His brother, Cliff Curtis, is a genius mechanic who runs a legitimate auto chop shop. He is a lot smaller than Johnson. But Lori Pelenise Tuisano, who plays his mom, is almost as big and just as feisty. So there is a big battle with a combination of traditional Samoan weapons, booby traps and rat rods.

This actually starts better than it ends, because there is a ridiculous truck vs. helicopter scene that went on way too long. It was also silly - like something from a Disney Cars movie. Of course, this isn’t the only implausible thing in the movie, so maybe I should have just gone with it.

All in all, a super-fun adventure, a lot more light-hearted than the more serious F&F movies. Who would have thought that a movie about street racers would lead to this.