As summer came to an end and we began getting ready for school, I was granted the opportunity to watch the critically acclaimed movie, Hobbs and Shaw, starring Dwayne Johnson (Luke Hobbs) and Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw) as their protagonists. They will be pinned up against a cyber-enhanced antagonist Idris Elba (Brixton) as they race to find a highly deadly bio weapon which just so happens to be with rogue MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), Deckard’s sister. 

Overall, this was a solid movie. This is because although it was categorized as an Action movie, it had a few aspects of other movie genres. For example, it had hints of comedy mixed in with the action. Another good part about the comedy was that it didn’t seemed forced into the movie. This is because the majority of the comedy came from the bickering between both Hobbs and Shaw. If you are unfamiliar, in the previous movies, Hobbs and Shaw weren’t always allies. In fact they were once enemies. Anyways, that’s what makes it so comedic when they try to figure out what to do but can’t decide because they both still hate each other. 

Another thing this movie did really well was playing to each characters strengths. We all know Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as this massive and muscular man. Whereas his counterpart, Jason Statham, is not as big. What I’m trying to get at is that they both compliment each other, especially during the fighting sequences. Johnson, being the big man he is, just hits a target and they go down. Whereas with Statham, him not being as big relies more on his speed and agility with well timed punches to take down the bad guys. This is what made the action sequences stand out; we get the best of both worlds.

Lastly, the one thing that I really thought made this movie exceptional was their inclusion of Polynesian culture. Towards the end of the movie, Hobbs and the group head to Hobb’s home of Samoa. Samoa would also be the place of the final battle. Over there he meets his family who agrees to help with their problem. Another aspect of the Polynesian culture they had was the way they spoke. They had pidgin accents. The best part was when Hobbs was fighting with his brother and the mom said, “‘You boys better stop fighting, before I sasa you with this here slipper’”. Pidgin talk is another major part of the culture in Polynesia. Finally, what I thought was really interesting was that they used ancient Polynesian weapons to use against their enemies. I thought this was really interesting because I’ve never seen Polynesian weapons used in such a high caliber movie.

All in all though, I would give this movie a solid 4.5/5 stars. This is because of the chemistry the characters Hobbs and Shaw had. Also because they were able to blend in hints of comedy between all the action that was going on. Finally they were also able to tie in Polynesian culture to the story line. The reason why it’s not a 5/5 stars is because of the fact that they made Dwayne Johnson invincible. Even in the trailer, we see Hobbs jump off the side of a building at least 3 stories up, fall onto the antagonist, then onto a car, and gets up without a scratch. However, besides the fact that the Rock is “invincible,” everything else about this movie was stellar. That is why Hobbs and Shaw to me personally is considered to be one of the blockbuster movies of the summer. 

Furious, Fast &. YouTube, YouTube, 1 Feb. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SA7FaKxZVI.