Verdict
Summary
Tyler Bates’ score to Hobbs & Shaw works fine for the movie but it’s lack of any memorable themes means it’s rather forgettable and not something you would listen to without the accompanying action. For Fast & Furious completists only.
Review: Hobbs & Shaw is the perfect example of a movie score that works fine with the onscreen action but without the visuals it just isn’t all that interesting; like most modern film scores it lacks anything resembling melody so there is no memorable tune that you can whistle along to or that will stick in your head. It essentially just bludgeons you with noise and by the time it’s over there’s nothing that you’ll particularly remember about it… much like the film actually.
I miss the days of classic John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith where an action flick would have a cracking theme like say Indiana Jones or Total Recall.
Tyler Bates also provided the scores to the John Wick series which also don’t really have a theme tune; a piece of music which makes you immediately think of the character and yet it works because of the gritty world and mixture of dance/rock tunes. Sometimes a theme tune isn’t required so I suppose with the Fast & Furious movies we don’t need one either. It’s more about creating a hook and exciting atmosphere which this score does to a tee; it’s lighthearted and fun in keeping with the film’s tone but the movie also uses songs for some of the set-pieces which sometimes work better than a score.
It’s certainly a quick listen coming in at just around 30 minutes; there’s nothing offensive about it and there are some cool guitar moments so it would be a fun score to drive very fast to (not that I am endorsing such a thing).
Stand out tracks include We Believe in People and Bring on the Moonshine but as I said you’d likely never listen to this without the action happening on screen.
Overall, Hobbs & Shaw’s music score is pretty much like the movie – a fun but disposable ride that doesn’t give you much to remember.
