Sometimes you don’t want to think, you don’t want to see a movie that subtly says “told you so” and you definitely don’t want to think about what’s going on in the world around you. During a self-quarantine a lot of people are, according Ryan Beltram of We Got This Covered and others, giving themselves a serious dose of Hobbs and Shaw, among other movies that are designed to be fun while suspending reality. To some any level of escapist fantasy might appear kind of irresponsible, but to those of us that know how irritating it can be to hear about COVID-19, what’s closing and how long, and basically every little thing that can and is going wrong today, escaping into a movie like Hobbs and Shaw isn’t irresponsible in the least, it’s a case of mental health that’s desperately needed at times. It’s not a desire to be deliriously entertained and given a good laugh at the over the top antics of Statham and Johnson, but instead is the desire to see something that’s entertaining rather than focus on a virus that’s been deemed insanely dangerous by some and survivable by others while trying to decide just who to listen to and who has the inside track when it comes to being accurate about the way we’re expected to live at the moment. People have been encouraged to practice social distancing, and while this is easy enough for those of us that are introverts, in fact it’s just like any other day, it’s tough for those that are used to being around people constantly. So yes, it’s necessary to put your mind on PAUSE and just suspend reality for a moment to enjoy a movie like Hobbs and Shaw.
It’s not an entirely brainless movie since there are enough quips and quick-witted moments of humor within the movie that make it enjoyable enough. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian has more to say on this. But in terms of the physicality and the ‘science’ that is being used one can only sit back and laugh at what Hollywood loves to do so often. A lot of us will simply discount a good deal of what we see since it’s a movie, it’s not real, and it’s not meant to be real. Plus, the characters of the Fast and Furious franchise are meant to be larger than life and the world they live and operate in is obviously meant to be far different than the real world we occupy, so it’s easy enough to let things go. If you’re still not following, let me lay down a few examples that might clue you in.
How ‘tough’ Hobbs and Shaw really are is debatable.
Look, they’re both tough guys and they’re both extremely physical and have trained in real life and for the movie to be heavy hitters. Dwayne Johnson was a football player, Jason Statham has trained in martial arts for much of his life and does his own stunts, so it’s fair to assume that they are tough in real life as well as in the movies. But being strong, tough, and skilled isn’t enough to perform some of the stunts in the movie, since uppercutting someone forcefully enough to send them flying from their feet, through a set of double doors, and then safely into a tattoo artist’s chair is movie magic, not reality. The force needed for such a hit would likely have decapitated the recipient of the hit, and if not would have broken his jaw in several places, leaving him unable to speak. Basically, every hit these two deliver should be capable of breaking bone and causing wounds to open and blood to spatter, but given that the movie was rated PG-13 this wasn’t bound to happen. Plus, Hobbs isn’t Captain America, so holding on to a truck with one hand and a chain connected to a helicopter with the other would have ripped his arms from their sockets. Plus, that pinpoint accuracy of each driver, and their spotter in the case of one truck, would have meant that the Hobbs brothers had practiced such a maneuver before, since the margin for error was so low. In short, the toughness of Hobbs and Shaw and those around them is kind of hard to buy in reality, but it’s fun to watch all the same. Blake Harper of Fatherly has more to say on the matter.
Such things as the laws of physics and gravity do exist.
This has more to do with the instance in which Hattie was being slung over Brixton’s shoulders as he ran down the side of a building attached to a cable. It’s enough to say that on his own Brixton could have done this, but Hattie’s added weight would have been nearly impossible to take on this kind of trip. Plus, Hobbs diving out of a window to land on one of the terrorists before swinging him like a pendulum towards the elevator with Shaw inside would have been, for lack of a better word, impossible. The speed he was falling would have made it this way as the impact would have been tremendous, more than enough to put even a man like Shaw out like a light and possibly for good.
I’ll stop there since people obviously want to enjoy this movie. Thankfully it’s the type of movie that you can actually shut your brain off and just enjoy, otherwise those of us that do think about these things might never watch another movie again.
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