Amateur movie with Big budget

A Major Disappointment

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

In the year 2000, charismatic WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made his acting debut in "The Mummy Returns", the viewers thought "here we go again", another wrestling superstar making a fool of himself by starring in another convoluted action film! It's been done!" We all hoped he would just simply put on the trunks and just grapple with Steve Austin or Triple H and headline another pay- per-view. But he didn't let the critics get the best of him. He took himself to other avenues in the entertainment community where his talents were appreciated. He was a guest on the long-running sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" where he excelled quite nicely as a comedic performer and did well as satirization to near perfection. Then in 2002, he returned to the big screen for another tryout. He reprised his role in "The Mummy Returns" spin-off "The Scorpion King" and though not entirely The Rock's fault the script and the movie as a whole was a flop, and once again he was the centre of ridicule as another no- talent wrestler/actor wannabe. But his guest performances on SNL proved contrary if given the right scripting for him to work on. In 2003, The Rock stars in "The Rundown" which combines adventure mixed in with spectacular comedic elements to it. In many ways it feels like a satirical take on the Indiana Jones films of the 1980's set in the Amazon jungles of Brazil. The Rock seems to be closer at home here as he juxtaposes his knack for comedic smarminess and his ability to excite us with the action scenes splendidly. "The Rundown" turned this wannabe actor into the real deal. The Rock stars as Beck, a bounty hunter who's been assigned to scour the Brazilian jungles to a mining village of El Dorado to rescue the son who's father is the leader of an organized crime establishment. The spoiled stubborn son goes by the name Travis (Seann William Scott) who at the time was the right person to play spoiled whiny twenty-somethings. The head honcho is a guy named Hatcher (Christopher Walken) who has successfully gain access to his worker's lives by charging them a bundle in cost of living expenses as well as blackmailing them every chance he gets and is not afraid to utilize strong-arm tactics. Travis can't escape where he is, but also really has no intentions for that matter. He believes there's a treasure nearby with loot that's gregariously sufficient in profit. Hatcher wants his end of the deal too which is why he refrains from shooting Beck and Travis when Beck lures him away through trial and tribulation. This leads to a high octane chase as Beck tries to lure Travis out of the Amazonian jungles with Hatcher's troop not far behind them. To make things more complex than we have thought, there are few people who oppose Hatcher and his intentions. Beck and Travis are befriended by a local villager named Mariana who also has intentions of obtaining the treasure as a means to free her villagers from Hatcher's clutches. I guess we needed a human rights diatribe implanted in this action flick, but I couldn't care the least. The film was directed by Peter Berg with a script by written by R.J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt is extremely entertaining and vibrant. The verbal jabs between The Rock and Scott are humorous and clever and the fight scenes exhibits just how tough The Rock is as he fends off against his adversaries with ease is high in adrenaline that will approve to action movie aficionados. And what can be said about screen veteran Christopher Walken? This man doesn't care what film he's in whether good or bad? Heck, this guy will even perform in a movie gratis if he wanted to. As long as there's some eccentricity implanted into his deadpan delivery. His resume during this period sees him starring in very forgettable films that is inferior to his impressive career of films that he has starred in. But "The Rundown" may not be an Oscar calibre film like "The Deer Hunter", but it's still a great film and Walken plays a very prominent role here and if Walken generates more screen time the more entertained I am. His delivery of lines is very poetic almost like as if he knew the script before reading or maybe he's just a naturally eccentric individual. What's refreshing here is that our protagonist refuses to bear any arms due to a horrific experience with them. Besides knowing his size and strength, why does he need them? But once the movie becomes gun dependent, the timing was well planned. Too many movies feature gratuitous gun fight and it becomes monotonous and mundane. But the gun fights are minimal and only when needed is original. This movie is one that truly unsuspecting pleasant surprise. For those who love action, clever dialogue and plenty of Walken, this movie is highly recommended for all to enjoy.

I am a big fan of the rock and this is one of his early films so I thought I'd watch it, but unfortunately it sucks. The premise of the film sees a bounty hunter looking to retire but he must go to the Amazon to retrieve his bosses son. Now as I said I like the rock and he really tries in this film to bring his likability and charm to his character but he just can't fully deliver. His character is just pretty boring and there's no attachment to his character at all and he is just pretty boring. Seann William Scott plays the son and I absolutely hated him in this film. He tried to be funny and he just came across as really annoying in this film. I didn't buy him and the rock together and his character just didn't develop at all and I hated him. I love Rosario Dawson especially after daredevil, but she didn't really add anything to this film. She was okay, but her character was pretty bland and pointless. Christopher walken plays the villain in this film and he was actually pretty good even though he sometimes gets incredibly cheesy. The story just makes absolutely no sense and none of the characters come across as very likable and you don't care about the situation at all. The script was awful with no funny dialogue and no reasons for any good dramatic dialogue. The style was a bit unique and I liked the setting of the film. But the action scenes were just really hard to see what was going on even though there were some decent sound effects. Overall this is a poor action film that you can avoid.

If you are looking for action, it doesn't come any better than this. This film has one of the best fight scenes in a movie between The Rock and the Kontiki rebels. It also has some of the best stunt work as two stunt men are thrown from a jeep as it falls off the side of a cliff. The stunt men tumble and fall down the cliff, hitting multiple trees and debris. Eventually the two men perform a tumbling 55' high fall into a large pool without the use of wires.But, what it has most of all is the Puerto Rican, Cuban, African American, Irish and Native American beauty Rosario Dawson (Rent, Sin City, Grindhouse).This is probably the best role I have seen for Christopher Walken. He plays Hatcher, the bad guy, and he plays it well.Even Arnold Schwarzenegger puts in an appearance.

When debt collector/pseudo bounty hunter Beck (The Rock) want out of the business, his boss, Walker (William Duckling), sends him on one last mission. Beck heads to Brazil to track down Walker's son Travis (Sean William Scott) and bring him back to the States. It seems like an easy enough task until Beck finds himself in the middle of a cultural war between the locals and slumlord Hatcher (Christopher Walken).Apparently I didn't learn from my own Rock-related lesson with "Planet 51." Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. Either way, Netflix delivered me another craptastic action movie starring The Rock (who, again, I will not call Dwayne Johnson until he proves he can act) and I watched. I'd actually heard good things about "The Rundown" from people I trust so I'm willing to admit that my Rock prejudice may have gotten in the way here. But...THIS MOVIE IS TERRIBLE!!! Truthfully, The Rock isn't even the worst part. He's up there, sure, but he's the secondary issue. The real problem here is the movie's identity crisis as defined by director Peter Berg. Let me be clear: I'm a big fan of Berg. The three movies he did after "The Rundown" ("Friday Night Lights", "The Kingdom", and "Hancock") are all extremely strong, especially those first two. Maybe he just hadn't found his groove yet when he made this thing or maybe he just hitched his wagon to the wrong fake movie star. Regardless, this thing can't figure out whether it's a serious action movie or an over-the-top send up. I can enjoy either one. I'm not against absurdity when it's done right and even when it's done wrong I can usually just give it a pass on the grounds of no harm, no foul. But I can't get on board for a movie that jumps back and forth across the Ridiculous Line. One minute it seems like "The Rundown" wants to be legit, the next The Rock is flying through the air like freaking Peter Pan. I feel like this movie would have fit in fine in the 80s but "Die Hard" changed the game for action movies. If Berg had gone all-in and thrown together an 80s homage/throwback flick (like "The A-Team" for instance) then I think it's possible that I could get past The Rock sinking every scene like the on-screen dead weight he is. But as it is, the stupidity of the plot and the juvenile comedy (can any movie that features a monkey humping a human be considered funny?) just accentuate how bad The Rock is.The Soap Box Office: www.thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com