Spinoff sees Rock change track

"In Hollywood, people can easily put someone's face on a stuntman, and make anybody into an action star with computer-generated imagery and face-replacement techniques. It's very easy to make anybody look good. So for my entire career, my whole inspiration has only been through people like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Lee and Donnie Yen. These are the people that really inspire me, because they are authentic."

Already released in countries like the United States, Australia and France, the movie had banked $437 million at the worldwide box office by Monday.

With a 67 percent rating on US movie review site Rotten Tomatoes, Ty Burr from the Boston Globe also praises the spinoff: "All the films in this franchise are family affairs, but you may find yourself wanting to spend more time on this branch of the tree."

Justin Chang from the Los Angeles Times comments: "For better or worse, these are digitally souped-up blockbusters that haven't entirely lost touch with their humanity, even if Hobbs and Shaw, diverting as much of it is, could have used less snark and more soul."

For Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal, the set pieces are strong: "The action is impressive and the stars are personally as well as gladiatorially appealing, but the filmmakers seem to have shot the treatment instead of the script, or never bothered with a script."

But with the summer season in full swing, perhaps Michael O'Sullivan from the Washington Post best sums up the movie's appeal. "The film is far from prestige fare, yet more often than not, it hits that summer sweet spot between the silly and the satisfying."

The film is due to be released in cinemas across China on Friday.