Movie Review: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

“Hobbs & Shaw” features the all the impossible action sequences and over-the-top characters you would expect from a “Fast & Furious” film, but the stripped- down cast allows for much more character development…although it takes over two hours to pull it off. Not only is the basic plot extremely predictable, but most of the big story beats are revealed by the film’s teaser trailer. There’s plenty of action, and as expected, most of it involves cars and the complete disregard of physics. As long as you check your brain at the door, it’s a lot of fun and looks pretty cool. The primary cast is small, and the film is able to focus on Hobbs, Shaw, and his sister, Hattie. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham ham it up a bit, but Vanessa Kirby mostly plays it straight. They all go on their respective emotional journeys, but Johnson and Statham spend most of the film kicking ass and childishly insulting each other, pushing the limits of the PG-13 rating at times. Idris Elba brings charisma and a nice physicality to the villain, but he’s never truly flesh-out beyond his radical ideology. There are a couple fun cameos, but the actors break into their normal shtick, and the scenes go on too long. The film itself could use some serious trimming, as it drags quite a bit, especially at the start of the third act.

**1/2 out of *****

TV Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 6)

***This review may contain minor spoilers***

Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube

Following back-to-back fantastic seasons, the penultimate season of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” takes a big dip in quality. However, the shortened season is still an overall fun ride.

After wrapping up things nicely last season, “SHIELD” was granted a last minute reprieve and given a sixth season. However, they seemed to have used up all their good ideas and it shows. The overall concept is good, but the execution is lacking. On top of that, they painted themselves into a corner at the end of season five, and had to find a way to bring back Fitz from space and bring back at least a version of Coulson after his death. While the Shield in space story had a lot of potential, in the end it just never really was that interesting. The constant near-misses made the search for Fitz stuff more annoying than it should’ve been, and the addition of Izel was done too suddenly to have the desired impact. Meanwhile, the Sarge storyline got off to a strong start, but it takes a twist or two that causes it to lose steam before it regains its momentum for the finale. Both plotlines feel like their own distinct stories, but then if feels like they veer off course suddenly in order to make them come together. To make matters worse, the Chronicom plot seemed important, before it became clear that this would be a story for next season.

One thing this show has continued to do well is a great blend of action, humor and emotional character moments. This season once again delivers some badass action, with some solid fight sequences and some cool uses of superpowers. As always, the characters interactions are the heart of the show. The six seasons we’ve spent with these fictional people have gotten us invested in them, and allows for some impactful moments. Daisy especially delivers some tear-jerking scenes, as she often does. Surprisingly, this season struggled with the comedy. While there normally is just the right amount of humor, they overdid it a few times. The over-the-top humor worked once, with the hilarious “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson” episode, but the social media-heavy “Code Yellow” was entirely too silly. It was like something out of an episode of “The Flash.” While that would work fine in the context of that show, it felt out of place here.

With its sixth season, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” once again delivers solid action, humor, and the characters we’ve grown to love. But, the plot struggles to find its footing and delvers the most subpar season of the show in years.

**1/2 out of *****

TV Review: Swamp Thing (Season 1)

***This review may contain minor spoilers***

Watch my SPOILER review on YouTube

The first, and apparently only, season of “Swamp Thing” showed a ton of promise, but the show wraps thing up abruptly and leaves quite a few loose ends.

Initially announced as a thirteen-episode season, and filled with story ideas that could pay off over multiple seasons and spin-offs, the powers-that-be came in at the last minute and forced the producers to wrap things up in ten episodes. While they did their best to give a satisfying conclusion, it’s obvious that a lot of things had to be jettisoned. The show felt like it was building to a big payoff, but instead it scrambles to tie up as many plotlines as it can, and the big bad never materializes.

The show looks fantastic. The Swamp Thing costume looks impressive, and the CGI looks great. While there’s rarely any scares, there’s some disturbing images: Mangled hands, homages to “The Thing,” and deaths scenes that wouldn’t look out of place as Mortal Kombat finishing moves. Between the violence and the profanity, this is yet another DC Universe franchise intended for mature audiences.

The plot is about what you would expect, from Swamp Thing’s origin to the evil business man behind it all, there’s not much really that unexpected. But, the strong acting and slight twists and turns make it a fun ride. It’s quite clear that a lot of the storylines are meant to be paid off in later seasons. Abby’s mysterious past, the unseen evil in the swamp and the Blue Devil’s higher calling are all intriguing. Unfortunately, once the show gets near the end, none of it seems to have any relevance to the main story. For better or for worse, they didn’t know the show would be cancelled right after the first episode aired, so there are quite a few dangling plotlines. While that ending is somewhat satisfying as is, they’re plenty to work with should they change their minds and bring the series back for more seasons.

The cast is pretty solid, with Crystal Reed’s Abby Arcane being the most engaging character. Andt Bean is also very likable as Alec Holland, but once he’s turned into Swamp Thing, Derek Mears plays him radically different, so it doesn’t really feel like the same character. Alec was fairly charming, but Swamp Thing spends most his time roaring and brooding.

“Swamp Thing” is an enjoyable show, with likable characters, and some dark material, but the premature cancellation creates an unfinished product, and makes it harder to get too invested in it.

**** out of *****