Hobbs And Shaw Review

Hobbs And Shaw was directed  by David Leitch and stars Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby and Helen Mirren.

The plot concerns the theft of a virus by a cybernetically-enhanced terrorist, and with very little options left, former FBI agent Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw are forced to team up to try and put a stop to the plans of a seemingly unstoppable villain.

The performances are good but unfortunately do not reach their full potential, Johnson and Statham play their characters well, but the chemistry shift from understandably hostile to acting like friends happens so abruptly that it lacks believability and just feels unnatural. Idris Elba unfortunately gives a very one-note performance that's quite clichéd and lacks in range and as a whole feels like a waste for someone with Elba's talents.

The film was written by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce and it's very clear from their script that they understand what this film is. There's humorous dialogue between characters, multiple car chases and over the top action scenes. But what stood out to me about the script was the great amount of effort put in to flesh out some of the story's main characters. It gives them interesting reasons for doing what they do, and sheds light on some of their unexplored pasts. I would say that this script keeps what the fans love but does go in some slightly unexpected directions that for the most part work in its favour.

The film was shot by Jonathan Sela. While the shots are unremarkable, if any of them are going to be considered noteworthy, I would have to go with the ones that pan across a country landscape, as it's a relatively nice look at many different locations and acts as an effective backdrop for anything that is about to occur in the film. There's also a somewhat amusing visual sequence at the beginning where we see the morning routines of the two leading characters side by side. I thought it was amusing in the moment, but slipped my mind quite easily.

The score was composed by Tyler Bates, and it's easily forgettable with a heavy use of electronic music being the only thing that stands out. There are also a few popular songs that maybe fit well with the film's tone but failed to leave a lasting impression on me.

The one flaw that severely damaged my experience with this film would be its very apparent pacing issues. Especially in the first act, while the audience is waiting for the main story to get underway, the build-up (while mildly entertaining) is just really slowly paced and parts of it need to be cut. And the climactic fight at end is also a perfect example of this film's pacing issues.

The conclusions I draw from this are that: Hobbs and Shaw has good performances but rushed character chemistry; a talented but wasted actor playing the villain; a good script that sticks to what fans of this franchise love, but also has some ideas of its own that it explores; some nice panning shots across landscapes; a score that's only made memorable by the heavy use of electronic music; and is severely flawed by inexcusable pacing issues that occur more than once and make the film feel longer than it actually is.

Having taken all my pros and cons into account, im going to give Hobbs and Shaw...

C+

Thank you for reading.