‘Hobbs & Shaw’: The fast, furious, butt-kicking action-fest now on Showmax

Nine Fast & Furious-linked movies – one of them being its latest installment, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – are now streaming on Showmax.

Hobbs & Shaw on Showmax

In Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, two sworn enemies – Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and British military elite operative-turned-outlaw Deckard Shaw (Statham) – are forced into an unlikely alliance when evolutionary anarchist Brixton (Golden Globe winner Idris Elba) threatens to unleash a deadly virus on humanity, with Deckard’s sister, rogue MI6 agent Hattie (Emmy nominee Vanessa Kirby from The Crown), about to become patient zero. 

Throwing some A-grade cameos into the mix are Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren as Magdalene ‘Queenie’ Shaw; Golden Globe nominee Ryan Reynolds as CIA agent Victor Locke; and People’s Choice, Teen Choice, and Kids’ Choice-winning comedian Kevin Hart as Air Marshal Dinkley.

The package includes the coolest bike in CGI history and some seriously funny insults flying between the two leads. Plus, Johnson gets to honour his Samoan roots on sacred ground in a feel-good showdown complete with a traditional Siva Tau (the Samoan equivalent of the haka). But the greatest pleasure of Hobbs & Shaw may be that none of the actors takes themselves too seriously, which means the movie doesn’t either. Hobbs & Shaw is a huge, escapist blast that’s just heaps of fun.  

As the latest movie in the long-running Fast Saga, Hobbs & Shaw is way past needing to prove anything, but it’s stacked with all the right cred behind the scenes anyway. It’s directed by John Wick producer and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch, while Chris Morgan, who’s penned every movie since Tokyo Drift, is once again on writing duty, along with Drew Pearce, who’s written Hotel Artemis, Iron Man 3 and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Hobbs & Shaw is in no danger of being mistaken for high art, but in an uncertain world, the Fast Sagais first and foremost dependable. You know what you’re getting: stuff is going to explode, some big guys are going to get hit really hard by even bigger guys, and the collective sh*t is going to hit the fan and blow the pyrotechnics budget sky-high before the credits roll.  

You can take it to the bank, and Universal Studios has. In the 19 years since The Fast and the Furious hit the streets, the Fast Saga has made just over $5 billion, making it the ninth-highest-grossing movie franchise of all time. 

The series of movies is credited with launching Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker to mainstream mega-stardom, and has featured stars like our very own Oscar winner Charlize Theron, Gal Gadot, and John Cena. 

Full-throttle action

Along the way, the franchise has delivered street racing sagas, heist movies and spy adventures. One thing has remained constant though: full-throttle action. 

Hobbs & Shaw is no exception. The crowd-pleasing blockbuster was the eleventh biggest film of 2019 at the global box office and has an 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for four 2019 People’s Choice Awards, including Favourite Movie, and four 2020 World Stunt Awards, for Best Fight, Best Work with a Vehicle, Hardest Hit, and Best Stunt Coordinator.

As Common Sense Media says, “This high-spirited summer action extravaganza delivers precisely what it promises: two great personalities, great stunts, and a little something extra. Hobbs & Shaw … narrows its focus to the most charismatic, and funniest, of the series’ characters.”

F9, which was due for release in May 2020, has been bumped to April next year due to various lockdowns, but until then, you can binge the entire Fast Saga on Showmax: The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious.