Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw movie review (2019)

With his work on “John Wick,” “Atomic Blonde,” and “Deadpool 2,” David Leitch has proven to be adept at highlighting the skill sets of action stars. He helped carve out the silent assassin within Keanu Reeves, the killing machine hidden inside Charlize Theron, and the wisecracking superhero that Ryan Reynolds was born to play. And so it makes perfect sense to give him this spin-off of the "Fast & Furious" mega-franchise. Working from a script by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce, Leitch wastes no time leaning into the strengths of both Johnson and Statham, opening the film with a pair of intercut fight scenes that highlight what fans of the two love about them. It’s incredibly simplistic to have Johnson beat up a man with a tattoo needle and Statham get the job done with a champagne bottle, but there’s a sort of beauty in that simplicity. Ah, yes, these guys. I know these guys. I like these guys. Let’s kick some ass.

And, for a long time, “Hobbs and Shaw” lives up to those basic expectations. Somewhat surprisingly given how bloated some of the films in this franchise has become, Leitch and company keep it tight in terms of character and plot. There are really only two major new characters (plus a few cameos from familiar faces), played wonderfully by Idris Elba and Vanessa Kirby. The star of “The Wire” exudes physical menace as a self-described “Black Superman” named Brixton, an agent of an underground military-tech group called Eteon. He’s trying to get his hands on a virus that could wipe out the world in a matter of days, but MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (yes, it’s his sister), played by Kirby, gets to it first, and injects it into her own body. This means she’s a ticking clock of world-annihilating contagions that will go off in 72 hours. Hobbs and Shaw are the right men to stop that from happening.

There’s an almost metronomic approach to the first hour of “Hobbs and Shaw” that’s downright admirable in its no-fat execution. Fight, verbal spar, chase scene, fight, a little exposition, more insulting each other, etc. As with most great action movies, there’s a rhythm to it, and that pace is fine-tuned by the actors involved. Johnson and Statham became the most entertaining things about this franchise years ago, and they know how to lean into their on-screen personas perfectly. In a sense, it’s an old-fashioned ‘80s buddy comedy, but with modern technology and sensibilities. However, Leitch and company are smart enough to know that the routine between the two powerhouses would get stale for two hours and so they give them Elba and Kirby to switch up the energy. Elba matches the two leading men in the charisma department—a tough thing to do—and then Kirby nearly walks off with the movie. There’s an interesting piece to be written about how Hobbs and Shaw are constantly turning to women in this movie to save them—including Eiza Gonzalez’s Madame, a cameo from Helen Mirren as Shaw’s mom again, and a key character in the final act that I won’t spoil—but I admired how much Leitch and Kirby refused to turn Hattie into the damsel in distress character that she easily could have become.