THIS movie has got a lot going for it. Not only is it an off-shoot of the hugely-popular Fast & Furious franchise but it features two of the biggest action heroes in Hollywood at the moment.
To top it off, the director is the same guy who helmed Deadpool 2. So what is not to love?
Well, the endless bickering by the two leads gets old real fast.
But the movie more than makes up for that by throwing in some excellent action scenes as well as hilarious cameos by Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart and Helen Mirren.
The story begins with Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), an agent for MI6, who is on an operation to stop the transportation of a dangerous virus.
Hattie and her team are then attacked by Brixton (Idris Elba), a cyber-genetically-enhanced ex-soldier who calls himself the Black Superman.
When he kills her entire team, Hattie injects the virus into her body to prevent Brixton from getting it, and manages to escape.
However, she is framed for the deaths of her teammates and marked as a traitor.
That’s when her estranged brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British military operative who has a history with Brixton, and America’s Diplomatic Security Service operative Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) both come in.
Recruited by the CIA to find Hattie and retrieve the virus before it falls into “the wrong hands”, the two also have to find a way to extract the virus out of Hattie’s body before it kills her and infects the rest of the world.
Some extensive car chases, hardcore fights scenes and a final showdown in Samoa make up the rest of the movie.
The storyline is simple and predictable but the fast pace and stars make it entertaining.
There are brief backstories about Hobbs’ and Shaw’s past that are thankfully not melodramatic.
The the end-credit scenes indicate this movie is not meant to be a standalone.
