Hobbs & Shaw review: It’s big, it’s brash, it’s brazen, it’s boisterous — what’s not to like?

Just in case you didn’t get it from the ampersand stuffed official title Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, this is a spinoff from the wildly successful muscle car/muscle men franchise, with no pretense of taking itself too seriously. It’s the epitome of a genre I like to call the bromantic action comedy.

It features two testosterone filled law enforcers, former British military elite operative Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and Luke Hobbs, (Dwayne Johnson) an earnest agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service. They have a prickly past, and friction ensues when they are thrown together to save a sister, save the world.

Said sister (The Crown‘s Vanessa Kirby) is a kick ass rogue agent herself, and has possession of a virus that could melt the innards of all mankind. A superhuman baddie (Idris Elba, obviously having great fun) craves control of that virus, and he and his black clad, motorcycle riding henchmen will stop at nothing to get it.

But, as is the custom in this franchise, it’s not so much about the plot as it is about the love-hate relationships between the characters, and those amazing car (or reasonable facsimiles thereof) stunts. Half the fun is seeing what jaw dropping, disbelief suspending capers they’re going to come up with next. And this iteration does not disappoint. Just when you think they’ve exhausted every wild and crazy car chase conceivable, they come up with something new.

The bracing scene where it’s rusted out, souped up jalopies vs a high tech helicopter vs a cliff us epic.

And as an added bonus, both of the big boys’ mothers figure into the equation, Shaw’s is played by Helen Mirren, and Hobbs’ is played by Lori Pelenise Tuisano, both to terrific effect. They can control the most extreme alpha males with the wave a flip flop.

Fast & Furious presents: Hobbs & Shaw is just the fun, frantic, good natured popcorn movie this summer needs.

If, after reading this Hobbs & Shaw review you feel like racing out to the cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Rated PG-13

2 Hours 18 Minutes

Hobbs & Shaw review: It’s big, it’s brash, it’s brazen, it’s boisterous — what’s not to like?