The Howell Family speeds with Hobbs & Shaw in 4DX [Review]

The Howell Family outruns, speeds up and overtakes Hobbs & Shaw.

AndersonVison was kind enough to send the Howell family back for another 4DX experience. So break out the baby oil and do a couple sets of bicep curls to prepare yourself for our action filled review of both the film and the 4DX experience.

Firstly this movie is most definitely firmly in the Fast universe, logic and physics be damned, we’re here for the
adrenaline and Hobbs & Shaw have clearly embraced that. Our 15 year old, Jacob’s first response after the movie was
“That was fun, I had to turn my brain off for a lot of stuff, but after that it was extremely cool.” If you’re coming
into any movie within the Fast universe for the first time that’s probably sound advice. The over the top car action
is only matched by the over the top fights in these films. And as Jacob pointed out, everyone in the Fast universe
is at least 75% indestructible.

Ohana means Hobbs & Shaw

Another staple of the Fast franchise has always been family, and H&S did not leave that by the wayside either. The movie spends time with both Hobbs and Shaw’s family and for us, both were fun and fit the film’s narrative and felt organic. Though some of us disagreed on how much time should have or could have been spentwith Hobbs family, some of us wanted more, others felt it was just the right amount. We all agreed however that the Fast universe needs more Helen Mirren. She’s delightful in everything but we all enjoyed her work and would love to see more of that character in this universe.

Another trait that was carried over from the previous films was the banter between characters. Lucas(13), Jacob
(15), Samuel (8), and my wife and I (old enough) all laughed several times through the run time of the movie at the back
and forth between The Rock and Jason Statham. Both actors seem to be having a great time with their roles and it carries
over to the viewers greatly.

With a solid opening weekend I could see this combination sticking around for a few more Fast universe films, whether they be in the main continuity or their own spinoff stories. And as a family, we’ll be there. We are choosing not to spoil any cameos or guest stars for the film but suffice to say their inclusion leads me to believe we’ll be seeing more of Hobbs & Shaw, sooner rather than later. As a family we’re here for it.

Family time in 4DX

Our previous family experience with 4DX was with The Lion King as seen here on AndersonVision. This experience
although the same 4DX was quite different. There are times where it works marvelously as it did in The Lion King, but there are other times where the lighting felt just a bit much. Also during fight scenes, all five of us agree that the feedback
from the seats was jarring and took us out of the film.

Not due to the amount of feedback but more so due to the feedback coming from the back of the seat yet the person being hit was hit from the front, or side. Seemingly a small thing but it took everyone of us out of the action for a bit every time it occurred.

4DX is enjoyable at times but when it takes you out of the action like that, it becomes more of a distraction than intended. Our sons decided the chairs needed a pull down piece, like a vest, that would supply feedback from the front. But with 4DX tickets already starting at an average of $25 a ticket I’m not sure adding more to it would be cost effective.

That’s not to say that we didn’t enjoy the film and the experience, but there are bugs that need to be ironed out
before 4DX becomes the norm. As a family we certainly would recommend the film as we all enjoyed it. As for the 4DX experience we’d say if you haven’t been able to experience it yet, you should. If you have already experienced it, your mileage may vary with this film due to the feedback issues we all agreed distracted us.

The Howell family again would like to thank AndersonVision for allowing us to watch and experience Hobbs & Shaw in 4DX!