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He can wrestle and yeah, he can act too.
By The Critic
unrivaled.info
Big draw action stars used to come a dime a dozen back in the 1990's. But
nowadays people don't go to see a movie based on one actor. Sure, you have
Vin Diesel and maybe Will Smith, the lone action stars of this decade. But other than that its slim
pickings. Enter Dwayne Johnson (Bean) also know as the popular WWE wrestler "The
Rock." He's got the looks, the brawn and the charisma to be a bad ass
character in any movie. He was given the chance to show
his acting abilities in the ultra cheesy stinker "The Scorpion King" (a bad movie, but
not by any fault of own), and now Universal is giving him another run at
Hollywood with a movie that has more dialog, action, and comedy. The Rundown,
originally titled "Helldorado," was a project created in 1995 as a buddy action
movie intended for then popular Patrick Swayze. The project was in
development hell until it was finally put into production in 2002. Universal
slated Johnson for the role of the main character and Seann William Scott
(Travis) as the co-star. The trailer was well received by audiences when it
debut in this past March, and the buzz on this movie has been quietly building
as we approach the release date. I always knew Johnson was a potential star in
the making, but my impression of the trailer was ho-hum at best. I had
flashbacks of the terrible special effects and the abysmal plot and storyline of
"The Scorpion King." The Rundown has no such issues; it's actually a decent movie with a good cast and a action star in the
making.
The Rock is up and coming. He's not quite at the level of Vin Diesel
as an action star (not yet anyway), but he's has the skills and potential. And
unlike "The Scorpion King," this movie actually compliments Johnson with the
quality of his acting as it's overall pretty good. This is not to say its
perfect but it's a big improvement over "The Scorpion King" and should definitely be checked out.
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The good: with the great cast you have in this movie, you really can't
go wrong: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken (Bloomocks),
and Rosario Dawson (Carmen) all do very good jobs with their roles especially
Johnson. He pretty much makes the movie that much better with his attitude,
humor and athletic ability. And the movie is done in good taste. Director Peter
Berg doesn't bombard you with too much eye candy, an over abundance of special
effects, and prodding dialog. The plot and pacing was
all well done. This movie was engineered to be rock solid (no pun intended), and
the quality in the title shows. The stunt work and special effects were also well done
(check out the athletic ability of old school "Sidekick" TV star Ernie Reyes Jr. as he takes on
The Rock). Mind
you, I didn't care for any of the "signature wrestling moves," but what was done
was crisp and clean.
The bad: If there was one thing that really distracted me from the
action was the fact that Johnson used some special wrestling moves in the
action sequences. If your a fan of wrestling, this would be good thing, but what
if your not? It was too distracting for me and many times it took me out of the
movie. Also the comedy was average in the movie. While the audience was pleased
with it, I found it to be a bit predictable. It's not a big deal, the movie was
sometimes funny, but also sometimes a bit corny.
I also noted the music in some parts of the movie was generic. It wasn't all
that bad, but it could have been a little better in certain scenes.
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Execution – 3: good plot and pacing helps this movie stay above the
crap. Decent but not outstanding.
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The Stars – 4: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher
Walken, and Rosario Dawson all do very good jobs in this film. The up and
coming Johnson, The Rock, was excellent.
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The cast – 4: chemistry among the cast was pretty good, convincing
performances helps keep the characters' interaction believable.
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Special effects - 4: stunt work and CGI special effects are
excellent. Not too much of it either, it was just right. The music could
have been a little better in certain scenes, but doesn't drag the movie
down.
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Tilt – 4: surprisingly good. I was preparing for a let down, but it
turned out pretty good.
Unrivaled rating: 3.8
Overall: If Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson continues at this pace, I
believe he will be a big action star. But for now you can get a preview of what
the future holds. "The Rundown" is a decent movie with a good cast; a perfect
vehical for The Rock to display his other talents. It wont win any best movie awards or anything like that, but it
will entertain for sure. Recommended.
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