- With expensive cars, over-the-top action, a ludicrous plot and plenty of on-screen chemistry, this Fast & Furious spin-off does not disappoint
- It’s the closest that the Fast & Furious films have gone into James Bond territory, with gadgets and a Spectre-style criminal networks
3.5/5 stars
The last time the Fast & Furious franchise tried a spin-off, it was 2006's Tokyo Drift " the least successful of the series. But that was before the series became a multibillion-dollar-grossing blockbuster behemoth, propelling lead actors Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker to superstardom.
Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, by comparison, is a much stronger affair, partly because it spotlights two of the more interesting supporting characters " criminal Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) " to have emerged since the series drifted in Tokyo.
Following on loosely from Fast & Furious 8 , Hobbs and Shaw are recruited, separately, to track down a super-virus dubbed "Snowflake". The intel is that Shaw's sister Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), an MI6 agent, has gone rogue, stealing the virus and killing her team.
But the truth is rather different. Self-proclaimed "bad guy" Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) is behind the murders; an operative for a criminal organisation, he's been augmented with the latest cyber-tech to turn him into something akin to The Terminator.
It's the closest that the Fast & Furious films have gone into James Bond territory " with gadgets galore and a Spectre-style criminal network " though stuntman-turned-director David Leitch ( John Wick , Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde ) rather outdoes 007 when it comes to the action.
From a stunning car/motorbike chase through the streets of London to a jaw-dropping abseil-sequence down a high-rise building, the stunts more than live up to the outrageous set pieces that make this franchise so beloved.
In addition, there is the near-constant bickering between Hobbs and Shaw, assuming you can live with the alpha-male jostling that litters the script.
Kirby, who proved her action chops in the recent Mission: Impossible film, again proves she's a nimble action heroine, though her character gets precious little dimension; it might have been nice to see her enjoy a proper scene with Helen Mirren, here briefly glimpsed behind bars as the Shaw matriarch.
With Hattie having ingested the virus and the clock ticking, the plot is just as ludicrous as every other Fast & Furious film, but that never stopped them. Arguably, the final act in Samoa extends the film longer than necessary, while two A-list cameos " possibly setting them up for appearances in future instalments " feel out of place.
Then again, over-the-top excess is everything in the Fast & Furious universe " and led by dependable turns from Johnson and Statham, this is ultimately mission accomplished.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.