{"id":18849,"date":"2019-08-01T14:24:39","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T21:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=18849"},"modified":"2019-08-01T14:24:39","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T21:24:39","slug":"fast-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw-tries-to-provide-silly-thrills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=18849","title":{"rendered":"FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW Tries to Provide Silly Thrills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In 2017, Universal released the eighth title in their Fast\n& Furious<\/em> franchise. Naturally, it was a massive success like all the\nothers in the series. While there is a follow-up in the works, studio heads\nhave decided that another year is too long for audiences to wait to get another\nfix. As such, they’ve created the spin-off, Fast & Furious Presents:\nHobbs & Shaw<\/em>. It’s an overlong and very silly action picture that almost\nrevels in its plot’s slapdash absurdities. This movie certainly isn’t an action\nclassic, but at least the bickering leads don’t appear to be taking things too seriously\nand have a few fun moments together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This spin-off centers around Federal Agent Luke Hobbs\n(Dwayne Johnson) and his nemesis Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), an ex-British\nSpecial Forces serviceman turned ill-tempered mercenary. The story begins when\na sinister team led by Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) try to steal a programmable super-virus\nfor a mysterious employer. When MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), the\nsister of Deckard, attempts to thwart the theft, she ends up injecting the\nvirus capsules into her own system and escaping the crime scene. It is soon revealed\nthat the pills will dissolve within a few days, releasing an airborne strain of\nthe disease that will decimate the world. Despite their mutual hatred for one\nanother, Hobbs and Shaw must team\nup to try and find Hattie, retrieve the pills from inside her body, stop the\noutbreak, and deal with their own family issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If this already sounds like a stretch, it gets even more\nridiculous as it progresses. Everything about it is absurd and none of it holds\nup to much scrutiny. Thankfully, the cast do make up for some of the story’s\ndeficiencies. Johnson and Statham are quite entertaining together, even if most\nof their interactions are a series of insults. This is particularly true early\non when they’re posturing and expounding on the ways in which they despise each\nother, using some amusingly graphic descriptions to make their points. They appear\nto be having fun and it makes one wish that there weren’t more verbal strikes\ntaken between the two characters. The film also benefits from a pair of very\nentertaining and unexpected cameos that do earn some laughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elba is always solid and tries to\nlend some weight to a completely preposterous role as an associate whom Shaw\nshot in the head many years ago. Apparently, the villain survived the blow to the\nbrainpan and thanks to his benefactor, has been transformed into a part-cyborg\nkiller. Not only is his body upgraded but his team’s equipment is as well; the\ncharacter races around on a motorcycle that has the ability to change its form.\nWant an explanation as to how these advanced medical and technological advances\nall came to pass? You won’t get more than a very general answer in this flick\n(in fact, you’re not supposed to think about it at all). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The action itself is equally exaggerated. It is a barrage of\nexplosions and gunfire, often through busy city streets that are not clearly well-patrolled\nby authorities. Some of the bits, including the climactic fistfight, are well staged\nand put together. However, the characters do so many superhuman things (like\ngrasping a tow-truck chain and using it to pull a  helicopter closer) that there isn’t a lot of\ntension or real danger to any of the scenarios presented. And the movie is\nquite long, meaning that the barrage of non-stop fights does become tiring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Truthfully, I’m not a huge fan of this franchise and this\nparticular spin-off didn’t alter my overall feelings towards the films. Still,\nI will acknowledge that Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw <\/em>at\nleast attempts to offer a variation or two on the formula and has a few moments\nof amusingly dopey banter between its two leads. It’s serviceable popcorn\nfodder that’ll entertain fans. However, the movie would have been a rip-roaring\nblast had the script emphasized its characters and provided them with sharper\nmaterial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: Enthusiasts will likely want to sit through the entire\npicture, as there are three bonus scenes at various points over the lengthy\ncredit roll, including one at the very end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2017, Universal released the eighth title in their Fast & Furious franchise. Naturally, it was a massive success like all the others in the series. While there is a follow-up in the works, studio heads have decided that another year is too long for audiences to wait to get another fix. As such, they’ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,697,3645,6620,7179,7333,7335,7336,7337,7338,7810,9225,9226,9650,10440,18035,18411,18856,23676],"class_list":["post-18849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-action","tag-buddy-picture","tag-dwayne-johnson","tag-exaggerated","tag-fast-furious","tag-fast-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw","tag-fast-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw-film-review","tag-fast-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw-movie-review","tag-fast-furious-presents-hobbs-shaw-review","tag-franchise","tag-hobbs-shaw","tag-hobbs-and-shaw","tag-idris-elba","tag-jason-statham","tag-sequel","tag-silly","tag-spin-off","tag-vanessa-kirby"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}