Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

CALENDAR

F RIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

E

The first time Luke Hobbs and
Deckard Shaw came to physical
blows, in “Furious 7,” they wound
up destroying an office building. It
was an auspicious beginning, a
kind of meet-cute for meatheads.
The last time we saw them, in “The
Fate of the Furious,” they were
hanging out at a rooftop barbecue,
having more or less buried the
hatchet.
But peace never lasts for long in
these movies, least of all for two
guys who were such natural-born
adversaries, forever destined to
butt heads, throw fists and mock
each other’s mothers.
Such a combustible mix of tem-
pers, egos, bald heads and mono-
syllabic names surely warranted a
stand-alone entertainment of its
own.
That explains (sort of) the exist-
ence of the aggressively cartoonish
spinoff that is “Fast & Furious Pre-
sents: Hobbs & Shaw.” It’s both a
hoot and a bit of a slog — a “Fast &
Furious” movie, more or less, but
with more ampersands and fewer
series regulars than usual. The title
doesn’t lie: The action sequences
are as fast as ever (even if the movie

as a whole, at 137 minutes, is in no

particular hurry), and as Hobbs

and Shaw, Dwayne Johnson and

Jason Statham deliver more than

their share of the requisite fury.

The appeal of a spinoff — a

chance to explore a diverting new

corner of a familiar movie land-

scape — is easy enough to see. Over

19 years and eight features, the

“Fast & Furious” universe has ex-

panded far beyond the hot-rod hi-

jinks of the early 2000s to become

something bigger and sometimes

better: a mega-budget vehicular

soap opera, a showcase for set-

pieces that defy physics and com-

mon sense, a delivery system for

swaggering banter and sincere,

lump-in-the-throat emotion.

With “Hobbs & Shaw,” the direc-

tor David Leitch and the screen-

writers Chris Morgan and Drew

Pearce have funneled some of these

elements into a formulaic beat-the-

clock espionage thriller, along with

huge fistfuls of lunkheaded insult

comedy.

Johnson is back as Hobbs, the

soulful human sequoia who until

recently was flexing his muscles

and eyebrows in federal law en-

forcement. Statham is also back as

Shaw, the wily mercenary with the

sexy-menacing rasp and a shadowy

AT THE MOVIES

DECKARD SHAW(Jason Statham), left, and Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) are off on yet another wild ride in the “Fast & Furious” spinoff that bears their names.

Universal Pictures

FURIOUSLY FUN

‘Hobbs & Shaw’ kicks the insult comedy into gleeful overdrive

[See‘Hobbs,’ E10]

JUSTIN CHANG
FILM CRITIC

REVIEW

Fresh off the phone, Tyler Bates
has good news to share.
“That’s it. We finished ‘Hobbs &
Shaw,’ ” he tells his wife, Lisa, in the
kitchen of their L.A. home.
For the uninitiated, “Hobbs &
Shaw” is the latest in the “Fast &
Furious” film franchise that is set
to open Friday. Bates composed
the music for the movie, which he’s
been working on since March.
“We should break out the Cham-
pagne,” his wife says, even though
it’s only a few hours into a warm
Saturday morning. Unfortunately,
there’s no time for that. Bates has
to head back upstairs to his studio
to work on another project on his
seemingly endless to-do list:
“R.U.N,”the latest Cirque du Soleil
show that will open at the Luxor

Composer shifts to Vegas action

“THIS ISnot like any of them,” says composer Tyler Bates of a new Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas.

Brian van der BrugLos Angeles Times

[SeeBates,E10]

Tyler Bates takes a break

from film scores to tackle

Cirque’s du Soleil ‘R.U.N,’ a

new movie-inspired show.

By Lisa Fung

The candidates went in

fighting Trump and came

out fighting one another in

round two of the Democratic

primary debates, where

style won over substance

and the quest for ratings

trumped reality.

The disparity between

the spectacle on stage and

the actual Democratic Party

—one that’s arguably more

united against Trump than

divided against itself —

spoke to an uncertain future

in American politics where

most everything is in flux

and the lessons of history are

not applicable. This week’s

debates, replete with pro-

testers shouting at the can-

didates to take a more ex-

treme (or measured) re-

sponse on the issues, left

viewers with a tangled mess

of big ideas and minor

squabbling from an over-

crowded pool of presidential

hopefuls — most of whom

don’t stand a chance of mak-

ing it to the next debate, let

alone the Oval Office.

Such political theater

was emblematic of a party

that’s shifting to the left

while still reflexively react-

ing to denunciations from

the right and locked into an

unanswerable question:

“Who’s more electable, a

moderate or a liberal?”

The dissonance would

At the

debates,

Dems

take

the bait

On TV if not on

policy, the Democrats

are playing right into

Republican hands.

LORRAINE ALI

TELEVISION CRITIC

[SeeDebates,E3]

Film folk mourn

a late colleague

Anton Yelchin’s tragic

death in 2016 at age 27

still reverberates for

co-workers, friends

and family. E8

What’s on TV.........E11

Comics...............E12-13

MORE REVIEWS

KENNETH TURAN

‘Tel Aviv on Fire’ PAGE E5

Mirth and gloom coexist amid the Israel-Palestine schism.

‘Them That Follow’PAGE E7

An atmospheric tale of a taboo romance in a Pentecostal enclave.

‘Love, Antosha’PAGE E8

Moving documentary on the late “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin.

JUSTIN CHANG

‘Luce’PAGE E4

A conflict erupts between a high school teacher and a star pupil.

‘The Nightingale’PAGE E6

Withering saga of European imperialism in what is now Tasmania.

ADDITIONAL REVIEWS

‘The Ground Beneath My Feet’PAGE E5

Tense character study of a driven businesswoman with a problem.

‘A Faithful Man’PAGE E9

Louis Garrel revisits a seriocomic examination of a love triangle.

‘American Heretics’ and more.PAGES E6-7, E9