'Fast and Furious' spin-off 'Hobbs and Shaw' is big dumb fun

The new Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw gives you just what you want out of big summer blockbuster spectacle: It's funny, it has tons of action and its makes great use of its macho leading men -- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham. In fact, it may be the most purely enjoyable film connected to the whole Fast and Furious franchise to date.

I think the magic trick is that Statham and The Rock are having a lot of fun here and its infectious, they don't take themselves to seriously.

In the background of one shot are posters for '80s action staples like Lethal Weapon 2 and Beverly Hills Cop. This movie is a throwback to those popcorn flicks. It's not 'about' anything and in fact whenever it tries to play a moment here or there for real drama it sinks like a stone.

And sure, some of the action scenes go on too long and become hard to follow, and yes, sometimes the toxic masculine bickering will wear you out. But, for much of its running time, this is a fast-paced, exciting and inventive little romp.

A lot of credit should go to Vanessa Kirby, who, following her turn here and in Mission Impossible: Fallout, deserves to be a full-fledged action star in her own right. She helps offset the lunkheaded rhythms of Johnson and Statham, who basically play overgrown children who can apparently beat up anyone anywhere.

The movie also benefits from a truly charismatic and compelling bad guy -- Idris Elba -- who is also giving something akin to a throwback '80s villain performance with his own cool spin. I love hearing him speak in his natural British accent, more of that please.

But of course the whole show here are the two leading men. Great pains are taken to establish the two as opposites, although they both basically are wisecracking cocky buffoons. But they are pretty damn lovable, so much so that you'll tolerate their standoffs because you know that they will inevitably, begrudgingly become friends in the end.

For both stars this feels like a culmination of everything they've done previously. They've been the best part of B-movies and blockbusters, and both have demonstrated an ability to play comedy effectively (in a way I'm sorry Vin Diesel never could).

They are aided by two (SPOILER ALERT) very disarming cameos from two A-list stars -- Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart. These are both actors I've never been enamored with as the public is and yet here I feel like they have never been funnier in a movie. Don't @ me.

Yes, the trailer of this film has spoiled some of its best moments -- but this isn't really a movie you go to so you can be surprised by narrative invention. This is a comfortable pair of shoes, this is the dessert after a big, already unhealthy meal.

The audience I saw it with laughed at it and with it -- there are several jaw droppingly silly lines -- but I have no doubt that we all had a ball. They don't make many summer movies like this anymore and I hope there's a lot more adventures with these two.

They're not getting any younger -- but they're still operating at the peak of their movie star powers and when the two of them are together the results are pretty undeniably fantastic.