THE RUNDOWN: Dwayne of the Jungle

NOTE: Just in time for San Andreas.

RETRO REVIEW

Dwayne Johnson has got to be one of the most amazing rising star stories of the past decade. One of the faces of the WWE, Johnson at first appeared on television shows to play to his wrestling career: playing his own father, Rocky Johnson, on "That '70s Show" and an alien wrestler called The Champion on "Star Trek: Voyager". Not to say there haven't been successful wrestlers-turned-actors like John Cena (The Marine, 12 Rounds), "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (John Carpenter's They Live), Jesse Ventura (Predator, The Running Man and Demolition Man), Andre the Giant (Conan the Destroyer and The Princess Bride) and of course, Hulk Hogan (Rocky III). But what makes Johnson a superstar today unlike these guys? Perhaps it's his ability to appeal to all ages: family films for the little kids, PG-13 comedies for teenagers or nonstop action movies for adults. Let's go back to where it all started: his first starring role - outside of The Mummy franchise - in Peter Berg's The Rundown.

Reluctantly, Beck flies down to South America where he happens upon the oppressed, gold-mining village run by a guy named Hatcher (Christopher Walken). It's here at a local bar in the village where he learns that Travis is a motormouth smartaleck who's desperate to find a fabled artifact that he can cash in with. Immediately antagonizing Beck, Travis is about to be almost literally dragged to the airport, when Hatcher steps in the bar and says Travis isn't going anywhere until he finds the artifact so he can take it from him.

Beck and Travis manage to escape Hatcher's clutches. On their drive back, Travis refuses to shut up. He eventually causes Beck to crash their Jeep in the middle of the jungle. Forced to go on foot, Beck and Travis bicker constantly until they stumble upon the rebel group led by the town's bartender, Mariana (Rosario Dawson). She knows what Travis is looking for, but wants it to buy her and her village out from under Hatcher's control. Forming an uneasy trio, the three head into the jungle to find Travis' precious artifact to take down Hatcher so Beck can take Travis home.

Let's get this out of the way: Seann William Scott is impossibly annoying in this. Not Tom Green-levels fortunately, but this character was written to be nothing but unlikable. His character serves no purpose to the story other than to be Dwayne Johnson's reason for going down to South America and to be his sidekick. It's not surprising that Scott has gotten less and less parts as the years go by - his last major theatrical live-action appearances being Kevin Smith's Cop Out and American Reunion. I know a lot of people will point to Goon being one of his finest performances, so I will concede I may be out of line.

On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson - for someone who didn't have that much acting expierence - actually does really well in his first starring role. He creates this character, Beck, with a character being a big strong guy who really really wants to be nice, but can be pushed to his limits. Beck's a no-nonsense guy with a single-minded determination but has a heart of gold and a strong sense of right and wrong. Let's be honest, Johnson will never be a leading man of the caliber of Tom Hanks or Robert De Niro, but nobody's asking him to be. He has his own charisma and charm. In addition to the punching. A lot of action movie fans point to this movie as to how Dwayne Johnson basically became the Schwarzenegger of the 21st century. Specifically this scene:

This film was Peter Berg's sophomore effort and it launched his career into the stratosphere. Since then, he's had hits - like Friday Night Lights (the film and subsequent television series) and Lone Survivor - and misses - like Hancock and Battleship. For years, he's talked about re-teaming with Dwayne Johnson to do a Rundown 2 teaming Johnson with another actor to keep things fresh (i.e. not Seann William Scott). After seeing the misses, it'd be really good for Berg to get back to basics with a new Rundown. And Dwayne Johnson's only getting hotter. As an actor.