Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw runs 137 minutes and asks one question: what happens when two men who hate each other are forced to save the world together? The answer is a lot of fighting, a lot of talking, and a plot about a virus that never quite matters as much as the bickering does. The film is directed by David Leitch, written by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce, and stars Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw. It scores 6.8 of 10.
Trailer, via The Fast Saga.
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham Trade Blows Again
The setup is simple. Hobbs is a US Diplomatic Security Service agent. Shaw is a lawless outcast. They have traded smack talk and body blows since they first faced off. That history is the engine of the film, and it is the part that works.
Idris Elba plays Brixton, a cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist. His ruthless actions threaten the future of humanity. That is the threat that forces Hobbs and Shaw to join forces. The film does not pretend the stakes are subtle. It puts a superhuman villain in front of two men who can barely stand each other and lets the collision play out.
The tagline is “Nothing is stronger than family.” That line tells you what the film believes. It is not really about the virus. It is about two men who find a reason to fight on the same side.
Vanessa Kirby Joins the Fight as Hattie Shaw
Vanessa Kirby plays Hattie Shaw, Deckard’s sister. She is not a hostage or a prize. She is in the fight. That matters, because the film needs someone who can stand between Johnson and Statham without getting flattened by them.
Helen Mirren plays Queenie Shaw, the family matriarch. Her presence gives the Shaw side of the story a history. Eiza González plays Madame M. Eddie Marsan plays Professor Andreiko. These are the pieces around the two leads, and they do their jobs.
The cast list is long. Eliana Su’a plays Sam Hobbs. Cliff Curtis plays Jonah Hobbs. Lori Pelenise Tuisano plays Sefina. John Tui plays Kal. Joshua Mauga plays Timo. The Hobbs family gets screen time, and that is where the film’s idea about family stops being a tagline and starts being a scene.
David Leitch Builds the Action Around His Leads
David Leitch directs. He has the instincts for this kind of film. The action in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is built around the two leads and what their bodies can do. Johnson is large and unstoppable. Statham is fast and precise. The film knows the difference and uses it.
The comedy comes from the same place. Hobbs and Shaw insult each other. They compete. They cannot let the other one win. The film’s best stretches are the ones where the plot gets out of the way and the two of them just go at it.
The problem is that the plot never gets out of the way for long. Brixton is a cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist, and the film treats that as an excuse to skip the work of making him frightening. He is strong. He is fast. He is not much else.
Idris Elba Plays a Threat Without a Face
Idris Elba can play menace. He has the voice and the stillness for it. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw does not give him enough to do with either. Brixton’s actions threaten the future of humanity, but the film rarely shows us what that future looks like. We are told the stakes. We are not made to feel them.
That is the central weakness. A film like this lives on the villain. If the villain is a wall the heroes have to break through, the wall needs a reason to exist. Brixton has a cause. He does not have a point of view.
Compare that to the two leads. Hobbs and Shaw have reasons. They have history. They have families. When they fight, it means something, because we know what they are fighting for. When Brixton fights, it is just the next obstacle.
Queenie Shaw and the Family Thread That Lands
The tagline is “Nothing is stronger than family,” and the film means it. The Hobbs family scenes give Johnson something to play besides a wall of muscle. The Shaw family scenes do the same for Statham. Queenie Shaw is a small part, but she changes how you read Deckard.
This is where Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw earns its place in the series. The franchise has always been about people who build a family out of the people around them. This film takes two characters who were on the outside of that family and gives them one.
It is not subtle. It does not need to be. The film knows what it is.
The Middle Sags at 137 Minutes
At 137 minutes, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is too long. The film has a strong opening, a strong finish, and a middle that repeats itself. Characters move from one location to another. They fight. They talk. They fight again. The pattern is clear early, and the film does not vary it enough.
The runtime is the issue. A film like this should move. When it stops to explain the virus, or to set up the next set piece, the energy drops. The comedy covers some of it. Not all of it.
The film also struggles with tone. It wants to be an action film and a comedy and a family drama. It is best when it picks two of those and commits. When it tries all three at once, it gets muddled.
What the TMDB Score of 6.8 Says
The TMDB audience score for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is 6.8 out of 10, based on 7917 votes. That number is fair. The film is not a disaster. It is not a high point for the series. It is a solid, watchable action film with two leads who work well together and a villain who does not.
The score reflects the split. Johnson and Statham are the reason to watch. The plot is the reason to check your phone. The film knows which half is which, and it leans on the right one often enough to keep things moving.
What holds it back is ambition without follow-through. The film wants to be bigger than it is. It wants Brixton to be a threat on the level of the best villains in the genre. It wants the family theme to hit as hard as it does in the mainline Fast & Furious films. It gets close on the second one. It misses on the first.
- Title: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
- Year: 2019
- Director: David Leitch
- Writers: Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce
- Runtime: 137 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Tagline: “Nothing is stronger than family.”
- Score: 6.8 of 10 (TMDB audience score, 7917 votes)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2019 |
| Director | David Leitch |
| Writers | Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce |
| Runtime | 137 minutes |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Comedy |
| Score | 6.8 of 10 |
| Votes | 7917 |
The Verdict on Hobbs & Shaw
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a film that knows what it has. It has Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, and it has a premise that puts them in conflict and then forces them together. That is enough for a good time. It is not enough for a great film.
The family thread is the strongest part. It gives the film a reason to exist beyond the action. The action is well handled. David Leitch knows how to stage a fight, and he knows how to use his two leads. The comedy lands more often than it misses.
The weakness is the villain and the length. Idris Elba is given a character with a power set and not much else. The film tells us Brixton threatens the future of humanity. It does not show us. At 137 minutes, the film has room to fix that. It chooses to spend that room elsewhere.
The score of 6.8 of 10 is the right call. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a middle-tier entry in a series that has produced better and worse. It is worth watching for the two leads. It is not worth watching for the story around them.
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