I don't know why, but when I came out of the theater after watching `The Rundown' I was smiling. That was a good movie, and do you want to know why? Because of The Rock, Seann William Scott and Christopher Walken. All three were perfectly cast, all three looked like they were having fun, and all three were just great to watch on the screen! I guess I should also give credit to Peter Berg who directed the movie because after all, the director gets all the credit when things go right, right?
Anyway, the basic plot. The Rock plays Beck, a bounty hunter of sorts, he does jobs for this one guy (who's name I don't recall) because Beck owes this guy something, they never really go into details, but the guy wants one more thing before he'll let Beck go, head down to the Amazon and get his son back.
I like it when plots are simple, and this one pretty much is. When Beck gets there he find that a warlord (Walken) has pretty much enslaved the village and Travis (Scott) thinks he's found the key to saving the village, this statue that is worth millions. Beck doesn't really care, all he wants is to take Travis back, but of course it's never that easy and they get lost in the jungle and have to get back.
First, let me tell you why I liked the movie. The Rock. The only movie I've seen the Rock in so far has been the Mummy Returns, I didn't see Scorpion King so I don't know how he was in that one, but this movie he just, well he just Rocks!! He kind of reminds me of Arnold when he was in movies like Commando, and Red Scorpion, you know, the movies that really didn't have a great script but for some reason you liked? This script wasn't great, but it was fun and what made if fun was Beck. The Rock gave Beck some personality, what? Personality!
The Rock doesn't play Beck as a guy who can kick ass, he plays him a guy who doesn't want to kick ass but knows that he can. He always tries to avoid fights, he does everything he can to not fight but of course no one ever listens to him.
I'll give you an example, in the very beginning he is hired to get from a Super Bowl quarterback who is a really bad gambler his super bowl ring to help pay off the debt. Unfortunately the guy is surrounded by his linemen, really big mean guys. So, Beck goes up to the guy in a club and is really, really nice to him and asks him for the ring. Of course, the guy doesn't give it to him so Beck goes into the bathroom and makes a call. He doesn't want to hurt these guys (Mostly because they have a chance to repeat) but he's told that he needs to, so he goes out and gives the guy one more chance, he says no and Beck just kicks some butt!
The action for that fight wasn't very good, strobe lights and quick cuts made it very hard to follow and I was worried, but the later fights turned out to be really cool and more than once you heard the audience go `ow!' at something on the screen.
Oh, and it's cartoon violence, you know, the kind where they just beat the good guys and bad guys up but a few minutes later they're all walking around like nothing happen? But it fits the tone of the movie, so it's okay.
So, I guess in conclusion, The Rundown is a mindless, entertaining action adventure movie, so if you like mindless action movies where there is very little blood, lots of cartoon like violence, and you want to see the next generation of action star (The Rock will be on the same level as Arnold and Stallone very soon I think) then go see it and be sure to leave realism at the door.
Anyway, the basic plot. The Rock plays Beck, a bounty hunter of sorts, he does jobs for this one guy (who's name I don't recall) because Beck owes this guy something, they never really go into details, but the guy wants one more thing before he'll let Beck go, head down to the Amazon and get his son back.
I like it when plots are simple, and this one pretty much is. When Beck gets there he find that a warlord (Walken) has pretty much enslaved the village and Travis (Scott) thinks he's found the key to saving the village, this statue that is worth millions. Beck doesn't really care, all he wants is to take Travis back, but of course it's never that easy and they get lost in the jungle and have to get back.
First, let me tell you why I liked the movie. The Rock. The only movie I've seen the Rock in so far has been the Mummy Returns, I didn't see Scorpion King so I don't know how he was in that one, but this movie he just, well he just Rocks!! He kind of reminds me of Arnold when he was in movies like Commando, and Red Scorpion, you know, the movies that really didn't have a great script but for some reason you liked? This script wasn't great, but it was fun and what made if fun was Beck. The Rock gave Beck some personality, what? Personality!
The Rock doesn't play Beck as a guy who can kick ass, he plays him a guy who doesn't want to kick ass but knows that he can. He always tries to avoid fights, he does everything he can to not fight but of course no one ever listens to him.
I'll give you an example, in the very beginning he is hired to get from a Super Bowl quarterback who is a really bad gambler his super bowl ring to help pay off the debt. Unfortunately the guy is surrounded by his linemen, really big mean guys. So, Beck goes up to the guy in a club and is really, really nice to him and asks him for the ring. Of course, the guy doesn't give it to him so Beck goes into the bathroom and makes a call. He doesn't want to hurt these guys (Mostly because they have a chance to repeat) but he's told that he needs to, so he goes out and gives the guy one more chance, he says no and Beck just kicks some butt!
The action for that fight wasn't very good, strobe lights and quick cuts made it very hard to follow and I was worried, but the later fights turned out to be really cool and more than once you heard the audience go `ow!' at something on the screen.
Oh, and it's cartoon violence, you know, the kind where they just beat the good guys and bad guys up but a few minutes later they're all walking around like nothing happen? But it fits the tone of the movie, so it's okay.
So, I guess in conclusion, The Rundown is a mindless, entertaining action adventure movie, so if you like mindless action movies where there is very little blood, lots of cartoon like violence, and you want to see the next generation of action star (The Rock will be on the same level as Arnold and Stallone very soon I think) then go see it and be sure to leave realism at the door.