Is
there a weirder term getting bandied about by the agenda-driven media than
“toxic masculinity?” What’s so bad about men being manly? (It’s a rhetorical
question.) That is why the world needs some testosterone-driven blockbusters
every so often. If you find masculinity toxic than head to your “safe space”
when The Rock, Jason Statham, and Idris Elba crash cars and jaw at each other
in David Leitch’s Fast & Furious
Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which opens today around the world.
What’s
this film about? It’s about two hours and fifteen minutes. What more were you
wondering about? Luke Hobbs is a Los Angeles G-Man. Deckard Shaw is a UK spy
turned freelancer. They have worked together before, but they were never
chummy. Much to their mutual consternation, the CIA has recruited them both to
work as a team tracking down a misplaced mega-virus.
The
case will be personal for Shaw, because his sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw was
framed for the theft of the “Snowflake” virus and the murder of the rest of her
recovery team. The real villain is Brixton Lore, whom Shaw also has some
history with. The last time he saw Lore, he shot him once in the head and twice
in the heart, but somehow, a shadowy eugenics organization managed to save the
turncoat agent. Thanks to their enhancements and programming, Lore is now a bionic
super-powered cyborg-hybrid.
Blah,
blah, blah, whatever. The plot here is just an excuse for Hobbs and Shaw to
talk smack to each other and engage in some large-scale smack-downs. Everything
is big here, particularly the action sequences. Frankly, the early F&F movies seem downright quaint and
intimate by comparison. Remember, it all started with Paul Walker’s character
going undercover to bust a crew hijacking truckloads of consumer electronics.
From there, we somehow reached the Rock fighting armored villains as he
freefalls off a London skyscraper.
Of
course, this all plays to the strengths of The Rock. He really has massive
screen charisma, which easily shines through all the explosions and wildly over-the-top
stunts. He also develops some solid comic timing trading mother insults with
Jason Statham. Taking on the squintier, flintier, Eastwood-esque role, Statham
manages to be cool and keep his head above all the surrounding madness as the
more grounded Shaw. As an added bonus, Vanessa Kirby shows off some impressive
action chops of her own, as Hattie Shaw.
As
a bad guy demanding imposing physicality and neurotic angst, Lore is definitely
dead solid in Elba’s wheelhouse, sort of like the Luther of supervillains. As
an added bonus, Dame Helen Mirren clearly enjoys playing Ma Shaw, who is
definitely her grown children’s mother. F&F: H&S also boasts two
uncredited big-name cameos. One is pretty embarrassing, while the other is take-no-prisoners
funny. Fortunately, the latter gets more screen time, including a curtain call during
the closing credits.
Instead
of Vin Diesel’s brothers-from-different-mothers “family” talk of the other Furious
films, Hobbs & Shaw are all about traditional family values—and saving
the world. It isn’t phony. In fact, The Rock has an affinity playing action
heroes who are also engaged parents (as in the somewhat under-appreciated Skyscraper).
The formula still works here, but it would have been even more effective if the
bedlam were a little more grounded. Recommended for fans of the stars and the
franchise, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opens today (8/2),
just about everywhere, including the AMC Empire in Midtown.
