Review: Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw

The charismatic Johnson and surly Statham team up in this spin off from the main series. The convoluted plot involves both of them somewhat unconvincingly separately and then collectively pursuing a McGuffin also being chased down by Elba's terminator-a-like and assisted by the capable Kirby.  But the whole thing is just a frame for the three of them to indulge in lots of fighting and occasional car based stunt.

One thing that baffles me out of this series is considering how much money they make the entries within it invariably feel a bit cheap.  At least some of the CGI always looks a bit off, a few of the action sequences a little muddled, the script lacking the wit and delivery of Bond and the acting flat (especially from the two leads). But somehow they chuck enough at the wall during the over long running time that at some of it works.

Verdict: Fun & Flawed

Review: First of the few

Inspired by the recent discovery of Public Service Broadcasting's Spitfire track:

I decided to give the original film from which it is sampled a go - and I'm glad I did. After a slow propaganda heavy start, it became a compelling story of innovation and one man's dedication to aircraft design.  Niven and Howard are well drawn character-wise, but some of the others are bit thin.

Verdict:  If you can get past the limitations of a wartime propaganda drama, this is a little gem.