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The RundownYear of release: 2003 Genre: action/comedy Director: Peter Berg Stunt co-ordinator: Andy Cheng Stars: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson, Ernie Reyes Jr., Ewen Bremmer Rated PG-13 for violence and language Version reviewed: US theatrical release |
The Rock plays a bounty hunter sent to the Amazon for "one last job" (yeah, right) that seems simple enough. He needs to capture a rich kid on the run (Seann William Scott) but soon runs afoul of the corrupt leader of the town the "target" is hiding in. So, of course, The Rock must commence to whooping some ass, cleaning up the town while getting the kid.
Well, the plot isn't really much, and I didn't expect anything from this movie. The Rock was never a favorite wrestler of mine, Seann William Scott's shtick is getting annoying, and this is a PG-13 picture, so there's nothing in the way of boobs or blood. But I actually had a pretty good time with The Rundown.
Despite my opinions of Rocky's in-ring skills, I will admit he has always been entertaining on the microphone, and that translates to his role here. He has a lot of natural charisma that comes through, unlike a lot of the forced emoting oozing from other action stars like Van Damme, Seagal or Schwarzenegger (who seems to be "passing the torch" in a way by making a cameo). The comedy in this "action-comedy" actually works for once, even if Stifler's antics (especially a running joke where he calls his fists of non-fury "thunder and lightning") grow tiresome after a while. I also always enjoy seeing Christopher Walken (who plays, as you might imagine, the big villain here) on the big screen, even if he is frankly slumming in a role that barely requires him to stay awake.
Action-wise, The Rundown isn't too shabby for a PG-13 movie. Some of the editing was poor (concievably to hide some of the naughtier bits to keep the teen-friendly rating), but some of it (like when we see Rocky's POV as he checks out what kind of weapons his opponents have) is outstanding, and Andy Cheng's work on the stunt and fighting side of things pays off. There's nothing mind-blowing here, but it was nice seeing some well-made action sequences that didn't have people flying about as the camera rotates around them. Like the movie as a whole, there are some (well, maybe a lot) of bits that people can nitpick, but it's still an entertaining way to kill some time, and a nice little bang to end the summer season.
RATING: 7.25
