Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 1, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 54 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
21
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 31, 2019
“Hobbs & Shaw” is witty and mischievous, full of surprise and invention, and a total blast. Read full review
80
EmpireKambole CampbellAug 1, 2019
Statham and Johnson hold even the faltering moments up through sheer charm, their chemistry never better than when the film lets them lean into the slapstick of two macho doofuses having to work together. Read full review
80
The TelegraphEd PowerAug 1, 2019
For an action movie to gear-shift between thrilling and comedic everyone must be in on the joke. The absurdity of Hobbs & Shaw is certainly not lost on Idris Elba, having fun as thinly-sketched baddie Brixton Lore. Read full review
75
Film ThreatAlan NgAug 2, 2019
Hobbs & Shaw is an action film in every sense of the word. You’re meant to check your brain at the door, shove your face with popcorn, and have a good time. Why would you expect more? This isn’t Shakespeare! Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 1, 2019
So for now, I’m going to go lay down, chuckle at the film’s inventive ridiculousness and try not to think too hard about anything at all. It’s what Hobbs and Shaw would want. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenAug 1, 2019
I laughed a great deal at the bad-boy banter during Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. I also thought the action stood up alongside anything else in the franchise. But the thing I enjoyed the most about this riotously ridiculous movie is that way it functions as a near-brilliant exercise in cinematic parallelism. Read full review
75
UproxxVince ManciniAug 1, 2019
It’s not that Hobbs & Shaw attracts dumbness so much as inspires it. You watch it with your mouth dangling half-open, chuckling like Beavis And Butthead, and that’s part of the appeal. Spectacle doesn’t need to be smart. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldAug 1, 2019
All of this silliness is actually great fun, particularly the bantering chemistry between Johnson and Statham, who spend much of the movie squabbling and calling each other names. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 31, 2019
"Hobbs & Shaw” is fine summer meathead entertainment, a brainless bone-cruncher with clever players, a decent script, and enough demolition derby mayhem to satisfy the yahoo lurking within the most civilized of moviegoers. Read full review
75
The Film StageDan MeccaJul 31, 2019
There’s a running joke that Chris Morgan will take this franchise to space since it’s all gotten so out of hand. Honestly, if he were to take these characters there, he’d figure a way to keep us engaged and involved. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJake ColeJul 31, 2019
The film’s action is the most extreme encapsulation yet of Dwayne Johnson’s bombastic blockbuster work. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 1, 2019
It’s like a “Fast & Furious” movie that’s been deconstructed and reassembled as a gleefully demented live-action cartoon. Read full review
70
IGNMatthew DoughertyJul 31, 2019
Though it’s too long, and not every action scene or comedy bit works, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and terrific rising star Vanessa Kirby ensure that there’s fun to be had in a Fast & the Furious movie not centered around cars or racing. Read full review
70
The VergeKeith PhippsJul 31, 2019
Hobbs & Shaw proves they work well together, stretching out the sparky dynamic of their previous appearances together to feature length. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 31, 2019
At its best, Hobbs & Shaw offers a refreshing antidote to the bloat. I’d rather watch another one of these than sit through one more Vin Diesel speech about family. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeJul 31, 2019
You may enter a film like this one believing you had some grasp of how gravity works, or the human threshold for pain, or what constitutes a good movie, but the experience is so exhilaratingly mind-altering, so radically untethered from terra firma, you basically have to readjust your basic understanding of everything you know to be true and just go with the flow. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJul 31, 2019
The two leads' highly competitive shtick is more amusing than not — the insults fly hot and heavy — as are the outrageously adverse predicaments over which they invariably manage to gain an upper hand. Director Leitch figuratively winks at the audience and elbows it in the ribs as he has his characters break the laws of physics time and time again as they confront a thoroughly preposterous lineup of physical dilemmas one after another. Read full review
67
Original-CinJim SlotekAug 1, 2019
As empty of purpose and overlong as it is, Hobbs & Shaw is at least a more entertaining machine than the last F&F film. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJul 31, 2019
Director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) seems to know how to set up his outrageous set pieces, then get out of the way often enough to let his stars do what they need to do: Joke, chokehold, kiss, and smash until the helicopters come home. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonJul 31, 2019
It’s the kind of new-macho action picture that wears its cornball heart on its sleeve — one where the misfit leads learning to work together is literally, mechanically, the way to defeat the bad guy. It may not have Dom and the gang, but Hobbs & Shaw is as self-indulgently silly and giddily earnest as its fellow Fast brethren. Read full review
67
The PlaylistGriffin SchillerJul 31, 2019
Making the plunge into full-on Saturday Morning cartoon territory with its ludicrous over-the-top-ness, Hobbs & Shaw is a quippy, explosively kick-ass, utterly preposterous buddy romp that injects some much-needed nitrous oxide into an otherwise stale summer movie season. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnJul 31, 2019
It’s certainly proof that even dumb movies can endeavor to enlighten the masses, and gels nicely with the broader message: If Hobbs and Shaw can learn to get along, there may be hope for all of us. Read full review
65
TheWrapCandice FrederickJul 31, 2019
You’ve got to appreciate a movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. And, man, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is definitely about as ridiculous as a movie can be, for better or worse. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 2, 2019
Hobbs & Shaw is a “classic” summer movie in every sense. It uses Fast & Furious physics (as opposed to the Newtonian kind) to amp up the spectacle element while diminishing the excitement quotient. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleAug 1, 2019
Usually, it’s pleasingly aware of its own silliness. But there are blind spots. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerGary ThompsonAug 1, 2019
Despite the movie’s emphasis on physical action, it’s this chemistry that keeps the movie going. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 1, 2019
The film is far from prestige fare, yet more often than not, it hits that summer sweet spot between the silly and the satisfying. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 31, 2019
Vanessa Kirby of “The Crown” and “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” is the primary reason “Hobbs & Shaw” rises above pure formula and borderline-contemptible familiarity. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJul 31, 2019
But in trying to break free from being Fast and Furious, “Hobbs & Shaw” forgets to maintain the balance of insanity and heart that makes the series special. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJul 31, 2019
It’s only in the final third when the fight choreography gets a little too incoherent that you realize you don’t give a damn about anything that’s happening, and you start to wish Hobbs and Shaw were given a story with a little more meat on its bones. But by then you probably won’t care. Read full review
60
CineVueChristopher MachellAug 5, 2019
Despite its lunkish, ludicrous – and frankly cynical – qualities, this entry retains much of the appeal of previous entries. Read full review
60
VoxAja RomanoAug 1, 2019
With Hobbs & Shaw, the quirky “James Bond as a fun Disney movie” formula that brought this franchise its legions of fans finally begins to feel tired. Read full review
60
SlateSam AdamsJul 31, 2019
Hobbs & Shaw is a ridiculous movie, and sometimes it’s in the best way. I laughed at the audacity of its stunts, while shaking my head a little bit at their silliness. But I also despaired a little bit when I checked the time at what felt like it might be the climax and discovered there was still an hour to go. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 31, 2019
Whatever this is, it’s not a movie — it’s a product more deserving of a road test than a review. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramJul 31, 2019
Testosterone, muscles, action, guns and cars… it’s Fast & Furious business as usual. Could be tighter, mind, and the constant dick-measuring gets a little wearying. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 31, 2019
Some enjoyable stuff, although a slightly weird deployment of Jim Croce’s bittersweet song Time in a Bottle at the film’s beginning and end – perhaps inspired by its use for Quicksilver’s slo-mo scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJul 31, 2019
Hobbs & Shaw is the movie version of a replacement-level player. It is adequate, but not exceptional. It’s the baseline version of what one of these movies should be, now that they’re not about undercover cops chasing thieves anymore. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJul 31, 2019
Between epic bouts of bickering, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham save the world in an offshoot that gets the job done. Read full review
56
Paste MagazineDom SinacolaAug 1, 2019
Compared to the eight films preceding it, the mindlessness of Hobbs & Shaw isn’t a sign of humble poptimist genius, just of something less than what it could have been. Read full review
55
CNNBrian LowryJul 31, 2019
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is an awfully long-winded title for a movie with roughly the same plot as the 1989 squabbling buddy vehicle "Tango & Cash," only with bigger -- well, pretty much everything -- and better special effects. Read full review
55
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJul 31, 2019
Though some zesty flair has been added—particularly a new heroine—this hyper-aggro spin-off of a beloved franchise over does it while under-delivering. Read full review
50
The New York TimesWesley MorrisAug 1, 2019
The whole thing just makes me miss how horny and violent movies used to be. Here, all the violence is sex. Only, it’s not. It’s just winking. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 1, 2019
The action is impressive and the stars are personally as well as gladiatorially appealing, but the filmmakers seem to have shot the treatment instead of the script, or never bothered with a script. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiAug 1, 2019
The Rock is funny and charismatic in “Hobbs & Shaw,” and his bro chemistry with co-star Jason Statham is a joy. The pair slinging vicious insults at each other is almost vaudevillian — it would make a decent live tour. And then there’s the rest of the movie. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleJul 31, 2019
When director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) eases up a bit on the self-satisfied action beats  – Hobbs and Shaw spent almost every fight sequence jockeying for literal or metaphorical position  – the film finds exciting ways to lean into Johnson’s larger-than-life physique. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJul 31, 2019
Yes, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is extremely silly. For its first 30 or so minutes, it also manages to be fun. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJul 31, 2019
There’s a fine line between homage and rip-off, between a clever mashup and a messy pileup of tired tropes. But, much like a rainbow, where that line appears is in the eye of the beholder. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonJul 31, 2019
The Fast & Furious movies always possess a certain amount of eye-rolling histrionics, but Kirby finds just the right mix of sincerity and snark, understanding that these films are meant to be knowingly ridiculous. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekJul 31, 2019
Somewhere around the midpoint of Hobbs & Shaw, the action sequences become so elaborate that they start to weigh the movie down; it becomes less a lean machine than an unwieldy, chubby sausage. And even if you feel certain there’s no such thing as too much action, you surely know when you’ve had too much sausage. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 31, 2019
But through all the excess, the schmaltz, the digitally-augmented fights and the practically all-digital car chases and stunts, the marvelous cast keep “Hobbs & Shaw” from totally stalling out. Call it a bad movie you can’t help but laugh at, and with, and get the extra large popcorn. You’re going to need it. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansAug 4, 2019
Sometimes there is pleasure to be found in brainless action, but the extended video game-style finale left me furious and fatigued. Read full review
38
ObserverOliver JonesAug 1, 2019
No one was expecting Midnight Run level repartee from Hobbs and Shaw, but is it too much to ask for a bit more than the who-has-a-bigger-penis stuff we get here? Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 1, 2019
Painfully long, exceedingly tedious, consistently unimaginative and quite dopey. Read full review
35
The AtlanticDavid SimsAug 2, 2019
This is a film with genuinely compelling leads, each of whom could support a solo movie, and yet they all seem on autopilot here, dispensing swift kicks and crude bon mots with bored efficiency. Read full review
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