So, I love action movies. They’re fun to watch. You check your brains at the door and enjoy the chaos. Except, in this movie, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham–both of whom I love–ask the viewer to check so much more than brains at the door. This installment is part of the Fast & Furious series and directed by David Leitch and also stars Idris Elba as the villian and Vanessa Kirby as the token bad ass female.
The plot centers around a biowarfare toxin Vanessa Kirby injects into herself in order to keep it from Idris Elba and his bad guy entourage. This puts her in danger and only two guys are capable of saving her AND the world! Enter Johnson and Statham as Hobbs and Shaw. They don’t like each other but they (surprise!) team together anyway. I have serious problems with plot lines involving time periods and ticking clocks which are completely disregarded with the distraction of explosions and 1 against 10 fistfights. I’m not giving anything away by saying they succeed…if I’ve spoiled it for you, you have bigger problems. First of all, the toxin kicks in after 72 hours. If you do the math with time zones and everything else, she’d be liquefied before the final battle. Second, the dialogue is not good. EXCEPT, when Hobbs & Shaw are cutting each other down–pretty funny–and when Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds make their small appearances. Of course, they’re basically paying themselves having fun being dorks but it works. Third, Vanessa’s eye makeup is so amazing, it miraculously stays perfect the WHOLE time! She’s beat up, goes through car crashes, in the water, all kinds of stuff and her eye make up is one point! Bruises and cuts are added to her and the other’s faces but come on… Fourth, you cannot be in a helicopter which falls off a cliff and WALK AWAY. Lastly, other than the few banter moments, the best thing about this movie is the cool motorcycle Idris Elba drives. It morphs to what his body suit is telling it—like the batcycle. Don’t try this at home kiddos…Check out a clip here:
Now that you’ve seen the best minute in the movie, think of all the money I’ve saved you 🙂