Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Positioned as a spin-off from The Fast and the Furious franchise, this installment re-introduces disgraced DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), who now partners with former adversary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a rogue military operative. These enemies-turned-allies reluctantly join forces when Shaw’s estranged sister, MI6 agent Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), steals a deadly bioengineered virus and goes on the lam. She is pursued by anarchist Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a billionaire British “Superman” with cybernetic enhancements. And there is a ticking doomsday clock. After 18 years and eight feature films, this macho-men fantasia series has become known for its goofy bickering banter, explosive car chases, and gratuitous violence. Director David Leitch continues the lunacy, noting Shaw’s short “Hobbit legs” and Hobbs’s looking like “a giant tattooed baby.” As superspy Hattie, Kirby is hardly a damsel-in-distress but given the actual age gap of 21 years between Kirby and Statham as the sibling Shaws, it’s hard to believe that they played together as children (even Helen Mirren, as Shaw’s criminal-mastermind mother, cannot rectify the incredulity over the age difference). Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart appear briefly in uncredited cameos, while Johnson’s real-life cousin, WWE’s SmackDown superstar Roman Reigns, plays Hobbs’s onscreen brother. Silly and shallow, Hobbs & Shaw spins its wheels for an exhausting 137 minutes, although it will still likely appeal to franchise fans. A strong optional purchase. (S. Granger)