Rating: 
Summary: Wow! Success!
Review: This is a movie that is just amazing to me. I loved it so much that words can hardly describe. After all of the buddy-action flicks I have seen, this one seems to succeed where they could not. Everything comes together to make a funny and entertaining action/adventure movie. Its very easy to follow through the plot and the action is probably the best you can get for a movie like this. Not only that, but its easy to see what is going on! No crappy camera work or shady editing! There are so many good parts to this movie! I don't know how people didn't seriosuly get hurt in the stunts....maybe they did? I don't know, but I do know that you should go see it! You will NOT be dissapointed!
Rating:
Summary: You Have Two Options: Option A- Go See The Rundown.
Review: Option B- I MAKE YOU go see The Rundown. The Rundown marks the arrival of Dwayne Johnson, A.K.A. "The Rock" as a bona-fide movie star. As Beck, a "Retrieval Expert" who longs for a simpler life as a chef, he displays for the first time on film the humor and charisma that won him "Millions....and MILLIONS!" of fans in the WWE. Dispatced to the South American town of El Dorado (Called Hell Dorado by the locals) to fetch Travis Walker (Seann William Scott), the wayward son of his shady boss, Beck gets more than he bargained for. He finds Travis easily enough, but getting him home might pose more of a problem. Not only does Travis not WANT to go home, but local land baron Hatcher (The hilariously nutty Christopher Walken, at his eye-popping best here) won't LET him go...At least not until Travis finds a mythical golden idol for him. The Rock vs. an army of gun-toting slave-drivers......Place your bets! As I said earlier, The Rock is awesome in his role, bringing a mix of self-effacing humor and quiet strength to the mix, balancing out the potentially irritating Scott's whiny character. Walken is, as always, a joy to watch. His diatribe about The Tooth Fairy is worth the price of admission alone, and hearing him say "Oompa-Loompa" is sure to go down in history as one of my all-time favorite movie lines. Director Peter Berg shows himself to be equally comfortable with comedy and action; He keeps the film moving along at a brisk pace, and the action scenes are simply stunning- Not only are the fights choreographed beautifully, but the action is easy to follow, with none of the choppy editing and shaky photography that has ruined many an action movie. The Rundown is just what it portrays itself as: A fun buddy picture. I had a blast, and so did everyone else in the theater. If you're in the mood for action, The Rundown is a sure bet. If you smell what I'm cookin'.....
Rating:
Summary: The Rock doing comedy what a combination
Review: I was astonished on how good this movie was. I really didn't think it was going to be that good. The movie made me laugh so much. It was definitly worth the time and money to watch that movie. The Rock out does himself in the fight scenes which is great. His work with Seann William Scott was incredible. I think they should probably work together again. This movie is a must see if you have nothing else to do or watch go to the movies and see The Rundown you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: The Rundown on Rock's new action film!
Review: The Rock goes from bodyslamming his opponents in WWE rings to doing likewise to the bad guys in The Amazon in his second major starring role. Unlike his role in the somewhat boring "Scorpion King", a prequel to "Mummy Returns" with Rock reprising his role from that franchise, the big guy actually gets to do some acting in this one. He's no Al Pacino here but he does have some decent acting chops. He seems to be going that Vin Diesel route here. The Rock is essentially a loan shark who is sent in by his boss to retreive a wise-cracking treasure hunter named Travis Walker (Sean William Scott). As one might guess, Walker is rather hesitant to give up his mission and go home. Enter Hatcher (Christopher Walken), a mean-spirited overseer of sorts who breaks his deal with Rock's Beck and this results in battle after battle. Along the way, the mismatched duo comes in contact with hyper monkeys, exploding jeeps, and a rebel group that just happens to be led by the local bartender. "The Rundown" has received some rather overblown reviews likening it to such classic buddy comedies as "48 Hours" and calling it one of the best action films ever. Reviewers like this seem to be so hypnotized by the "star power", thus ignoring a lot of other elements. Peter Berg gets props for the presentation. The action sequences look amazing but there are a lot of other things that aren't done so well. Looking beyond the glossy packaging, the script is thin. The comedic pairing of Rock and Scott is cute at times but nowhere near on the level of Nolte and Murphy or Gibson and Glover. Walken is always gonna be good but this is not one of his better roles. He is having fun with the role and so are we in watching him but he made for a much effective villian in the five minutes he appeared in "True Romance" then in the more than hour we get him here. If you know what you are getting into, "The Rundown" is a real fun movie. I was not expecting too much from The Rock here but he surprised me. There is nothing "landmark" about this film though Berg's visual flare makes for something different. This movie is for the most part, a more visually-developed version of Deran Sarafian's "Gunmen" with a much more high-profile cast.
Rating:
Summary: This movie ROCKS
Review: This is a great flick. Now, I would not call it the greatest of all time, but it is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most electrifying movie this year. Lots of cool action. Also great humor, of both sophisticated and sophmoric types. It is the one movie in recent years that I am actually thinking about seeing twice in the movie theatre. Go see it. If you are squemish about blood, don't worry. The Rundown has lots of action and violence, half of which is slapstick, but the blood is kept at a minimum.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid as a Rock......
Review: Sorry, couldn't resist the pun. But in the same vein as "Romancing The Stone," Indiana Jones" and about a dozen other find the treasure in the jungle action-comedies, "The Rundown" succeeds as a big noisy popcorn flick. It also proves that The Rock can carry his own picture when surrounded with a cast of A-List actors. It's worth noting the opening quick cameo with Arnold S., who, in a significant "pass the torch" moment, mutters "have fun" to our hero. And that The Rock does. There's enough scenery chewing here to feed a few starving nations, all of it delightfully shot in "Brazil" (ne: Hawaii). Christopher Walken is the baddy, but he does get to hammily play something other than a deranged villain for a change, Sean William Scott continues to grow into a mature comic actor, and Rosario Dawson gets the tough but gold-hearted female heroine in peril role. All suit their roles well. Given the generally disappointing action movies of the summer, it's nice that one was saved till fall to redeem the genre.
Rating:
Summary: The Rundown is The Rock's best movie!
Review: "The Rundown" takes place in the Amazon and has The Rock and Seann William Scott fighting each other. The Rock is Beck, a bounty hunter who has to do one more bounty in order to get his job and to have his own restaurant to be a chef. Seann William Scott is Travis Walker, the last bounty he is hunting. Travis is the son of Beck's boss, strangely enough. The beginning of this movie is dynamic with The Rock taking out a whole offensive football line. Unfortunately, when trying to grab Travis, Beck runs into a little trouble from Hatcher, played brilliantly by Christopher Walken, at a bar runned by Mariana, played by Rosario Dawson. Beck and Travis ended up in the Amazon jungle, trying to survive for their lives running from Hatcher. Unfortunately, they again, run into Mariana, who is strangely enough, the leader of the rebels. Travis, Beck and Mariana, look for the artifact that Travis is looking for. They find it, but, unfortunately, falls into Hatcher's hands, as does Mariana. Beck and Travis both return back into the town and get the artifact and Mariana back. The ending is amazingly funny and brilliant. The movie is excellent and I very much recommend it. Go see it any time.
Rating:
Summary: This would have been the best action comedy of the summer
Review: In "The Rundown," the Rock plays a "retrieval expert" named Beck, whom we first meet when he has to get either $50,000 or a ring as collateral from a NFL quarterback (Stephen Bishop), who is hanging out at a club with some of his teammates. When his initial overture is rebuffed, Beck checks in with his boss, pointing out that the QB has his entire offensive line with him. But the concern is not over the obstacle that these hulking gridiron giants might pose to him, but that the team has a chance to make the playoffs again. The clear implication is that if Beck gets rough, the boys will be out of commission, and the tone he takes shows that the Rock has found the perfect note for creating his big screen persona. This is just the prologue to the main adventure, which is when Beck is sent to the Amazonian jungle to retrieve Travis Walker (Seann William Scott), the wayward son of his employer. If Beck does this he can pay off his own debt and get the startup money for his dream: a restaurant. Travis is looking for the Gatto, a legendary ancient artifact made of gold. Unfortunately he is doing this on the land owned by the evil Hatcher, who is exploiting the natives right and left. Hatcher is played by Christopher Walken, who has another one of those legendary moments in his career when he tries to explain the idea of the tooth fairy to his troops through an interpreter. There has to be a woman in this type of movie, and here the lady is Mariana (Rosario Dawson), who does a lot more than tend the local bar. Basically, everybody wants Travis and/or the Gatto, complicating Beck's life, and that is before we throw those fun loving jungle monkeys into the mix. The Rock sets the tone for the film, Scott supplies the comic relief, Walken has fun chewing on the luscious scenery, and Dawson provides the brains and beauty. Scott takes a half-step back from the quantum leap forward he took in "Bulletproof Monk" in getting beyond the Stifler character from the "American Pie" movies, but he holds his own against the Rock. It will certainly be interesting in the future to how both actors can build on what they have established here. The film takes as much effort to set up the comedy sequences as the action ones, which is why the end result is pretty solid. My only serious complaint with "The Rundown" is that the action sequences consist of a series of rapid jump cuts, which probably help to cover up the wires and mirrors and whatnot, but which also make it rather difficult to follow the action. I understand this is the current language of cinema, a legacy spawned by music videos and fast paced commercials, put sometimes I just want a nice minute long tracking shot or to just have the camera stay put for a while. But director Peter Berg certainly brings some flair to the proceedings. "The Rundown" is the best action-comedy of the fall, which is not exactly the most desirable honor to be won in Hollywood and rather surprising. You would think a film that takes place in the jungles of Amazon (filmed in Hawaii) would be a natural to put out in the summer, but I guess that would make too much sense. This is not a great action film, but it is a solid one, which is apparently the best we can hope for nowadays. The title does not have any real meaning, besides initially paralleling the name of the film's star. Producers ditched "Helldorado" and "Welcome to the Jungle," which probably explains why the television spots are talking about the Rock rather than the film's title.
Rating:
Summary: The Rundown Rock Bottoms The Rock's Critics
Review: I will be the first to admit I wasn't too keen on The Rock going into acting. Especially after such flops like Hogan and Roddy Piper, I thought The Rock would kill himself in the process in the nation's eyes. Boy was I wrong! The Mummy Returns was not a big role for the Rock. Just 5 minutes on camera and 10 as a lame scorpion. The Scorpion King was awesome and showed The Rock's potential. Apparently, Roeper and Ebert didn't like the movie enough to give it the thumbs up. Now we have The Rundown. And Ebert and Roeper give it two thumbs up. Why? I'll tell ya. First, The Rock gets the dialogue needed to prove his acting skills. The Mummy Returns limited his acting and The Scorpion King teased a little bit at what The Rock could do. This movie he gets the lines and shows the world he is the big action star (sorry, Vin Diesel, call those who really care about your "FLAVOR OF THE MONTH" career). Secondly, The Rock has a more established supporting cast along with him. In the Scorpion King, half of the main actors were acting for the first time on the big screen or were seen too infrequently from year to year to know them at all. The Rundown has Seann William Scott, Stiffler from American Pie, Christopher Walken, numerous roles for him including Deer Hunter, and Rosario Dawson, who starred in MIB 2. And thirdly, The Rundown has a great mix of comedy and action. My favorite line was Arnold Schwartzenegger's cameo line: "Have Fun." Walken's character futily tries to use the Tooth Fairy to describe what's happening. Do not miss out on The Rundown. SEE IT NOW!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A great buddy action film packed with loads of laughs!
Review: In THE RUNDOWN, Dwayne Johnson stars as The Rock who stars as Beck who's an enforcer for an LA mob boss who really wants nothing more than to open up a restaurant with the tips on food preparation he's learned from renowned chef Emeril (yep, the chef from the Food Network). However, for that to happen, Beck must do one last job for his employer. He must go to Brazil and "rundown" Travis (Scott), his employer's estranged son who has gone to Brazil to find a stolen treasure known as the "El Gato". As you can imagine, things don't go as planned and Travis and Beck find themselves fighting together against big gray monkeys with bare asses and big fangs, short but mean as hell Brazilian rebels, poisonous fruit, and of course, the always brilliant Christopher Walken. At the beginning of THE RUNDOWN, Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, California's "soon to be" new governor even though I wish he'd just do T4 and the next CONAN) passes the Rock in a crowded by bar and says, "have fun". That's it. "Have fun". It's great because it's almost as if Arnold is passing the action star baton to The Rock and with this movie The Rock really assumes the position of successor to Mr. Schwarzenegger. With THE RUNDOWN, I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. It's a fun action comedy, which has just the right tone. It's never too serious and it's never too stupid. Director Peter Berg (I always think of him as the guy who referred to his father as "da" instead of dad in Wes Craven's forgotten but always fun to watch at Halloween film, SHOCKER) has done something I didn't think was possible these days. He created action scenes that came off as new and refreshing in a time when everyone else is still trying to be THE MATRIX. Congrats go out to Mr. Berg and The Rock, who with this film assures us that he has the potential to be a big action star. I can't right this review either with out saying something about Stifler a.k.a Seann William Scott. What can I say? The man's funny. He's always been funny to me in an annoying kind of way. Maybe it's because I feel like I know people just like him. I don't know but I always find the guy funny. Anyway, Scott and The Rock end up making a good team and a couple of characters that are enjoyable to watch. In the end, THE RUNDOWN isn't the masterpiece of the millenium or anything but it is an action romp that makes for a hell of a good hour and a half at the movies and isn't that what makes the movies so much fun? The people there when I saw it thought so as applaud filled the room when the credits rolled. That's something I haven't seen in a while. So check it out. It's the type of movie that's fun to watch with an audience. I don't think you'll be disappointed. B+
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