Hobbs & Shaw first reviews praise the action, but call The Rock, Jason Statham’s spin-off ‘cartoonish’

The first reviews for Hobbs & Shaw, the upcoming spin-off of the Fast & Furious franchise, have arrived online, and they’re positive. The critics’ consensus on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reads, “Hobbs & Shaw doesn’t rev as high as the franchise’s best instalments, but gets decent mileage out of its well-matched stars and over-the-top action sequences.”

The film’s score, based on less than 100 reviews, is currently 71%. This puts it right above the 70% score of Fast & Furious 6, and just below the 77% score of Fast Five.

Critics appreciated the chemistry between lead stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Jason Statham, and noted that the franchise has taken its first steps into the realm of science-fiction.

Also read: Before Hobbs & Shaw, a brief history of Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel’s ugly feud

“Whatever this is, it’s not a movie,” Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers wrote in his positive review. “It’s a product more deserving of a road test than a review. Johnson and Statham keep the action and laughs spinning. The problem is they keep repeating them - stunt, banter, stunt - until they wear out their welcome.”

“Millions of 10-year-olds will be seeing Hobbs & Shaw and most of them (and their parents or adult guardians) will enjoy it,” the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips wrote, “because the franchise delivers the pain as well as the sincere devotion to family ties.”

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote, “The movie is a bit overextended, and the action runs out of steam in the final battle, but it delivers some bangs and laughs for your buck.”

In a negative review, Time’s Stephanie Zacharek wrote, “Somewhere around the midpoint of Hobbs & Shaw, the action sequences become so elaborate that they start to weigh the movie down; it becomes less a lean machine than an unwieldy, chubby sausage.”

The AV Club’s Ignatiy Vishnavetsky wrote, “The staging of loud, destructive, effects-laden set pieces seems to elude the director’s grasp-and, unfortunately, that’s what Fast & Furious movies are all about.”

By comparison, the highest-rated Fast & Furious film is Furious 7, with an 81% score. The lowest rated instalment is the fourth, Fast & Furious, with a 28% score. Hobbs & Shaw is slated for release on Friday.

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