After “The Mummy Returns” and “The Scorpion King,” many eager fans of both professional wrestling and the movies began to await Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s next performance in film. Their wait is over now, as The Rock’s new movie, “The Rundown” has charged straight through at the box office.
This film features the Rock as Beck, a retrieval expert who is sent by a client to the Amazon to retrieve the client’s son, Travis, played by Seann William Scott. When Beck arrives at his destination, he finds Travis after a tangle with the community’s menacing dictator, Hatcher (Christopher Walken) and his cohorts. After Beck escapes these men and has Travis in his possession, he believes that his mission is over. However, after the jeep that he and Travis are riding in goes sailing over a steep hill, he finds that his plan is far from complete.
Beck and Travis soon find themselves on a mind-boggling adventure in the jungle complete with rabid monkeys, dangerous rebel fighters, and a lovely lady named Mariana, played by Rosario Dawson. She ends up aiding Beck and Travis on their new mission: to find an ancient artifact known as the “Gato” and save it from the evil intentions of Hatcher. Mariana believes that the Gato will save her people and insists that the artifact must not fall into Hatcher’s hands, or the community may forever remain under his rule. It is up to Beck, with the aid of his new friends and the rebel forces and community, to squash the dictatorship and preserve the precious Gato.
The movie is chock full of action, as anyone would expect from one of The Rock’s movies. He finds himself in some high-flying, hair-raising battles in this movie, and even uses his signature wrestling move “The Rock Bottom,” on an instigator of trouble. Seann William Scott is hilarious as the bumbling, headache-inducing sidekick who hinders Beck more than helps him during most of the adventure. Together, these two make a lethal team, mixing comedy and fast-paced action to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. Christopher Walken does his usual superb job as the nefarious and often humorously odd villain, providing a sharp contrast to the no-holds-barred, take no prisoners character of The Rock. Even though there is no romance between Mariana and either Beck or Travis, Rosario Dawson is still excellent as the girl.
The well-chosen cast, smooth plot, and fast-moving action make this a perfect action/comedy story, and keeps fans of all types of movies interested.
Overall, this film is great for fans of comedy, action, and adventure alike and features four of the most talented stars of today. It is only a matter of time before the Rock becomes “the most electrifying man in film entertainment” as well as sports entertainment. Four stars for this satisfying, well-directed action/comedy piece.
