Rating: 
Summary: See this movie!
Review: what are you doing sittin' here reading for go see the freakin' movie. all you guys out there i know will love it. it may be the only movie in theaters you would be willing to pay to see.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak but has its moments
Review: There is a scene early on in the Rundown where Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in a brief cameo, the only purpose of which is to seemingly pass the action movie baton to wrestler turned actor The Rock. And in a genre where leaden or hammy actor is par for the course - where the best actor in the bunch may be Schwarzenegger and it goes down from there to the VanDammes, Seagals and Lungrens - the Rock fits right in. He is not bottom-of-the-barrel, but the odds of him showing up on Oscar night are roughly equivalent to a lightning strike.Of course, in an action movie like the Rundown, we don't expect to find the next Olivier or DeNiro, but even in its genre, the Rundown is nothing special, only notable for the Rock being in it, and as discussed, this is no great feature. The story has him as a bounty hunter named Beck who wants to be a cook in his own restaurant. (That's around the extent of the cleverness of this film: the idea of a macho character actually wanting to be something considered non-macho is supposed to be ironically funny, and maybe it would be if it hasn't already been done before numerous times.) Hired by a mobster to find his son, Beck goes off to South America where he runs into complications involving a ruthless miner (played by Christopher Walken in one of his weaker performances...and he's still the best in the bunch), an ancient artifact and a bunch of rebels (who actually aren't rebels in that they are defying Walken, not rebelling against the government). The result is a mishmash of many, often better movies, most notably Raider of the Lost Ark and Midnight Run. How is the action itself? Okay, but usually overly stylized, as the director tries to show off how clever he can be. The result is that the direction is on the same level as the acting and writing, which is unimpressive at best. Beck is neither particularly bright and his fighting level seems to fluctuate with the demands of the scene: early on, he takes on several football players without breaking a sweat, then later on he has his problems going one-on-one with a small (albeit nasty) rebel, and even Sean William Scott is occasionally a challenge. With okay action and little else to recommend it, this barely gets two stars. This is a movie that is overdirected, underwritten and woodenly acted. If you're stuck watching it, you will survive, but even in the field of cheesy action movies, there are a lot better films out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing In Spots
Review: Whereas The Rundown did not live up to my expectations, it did have some good moments. The Rock(Dwayne Johnson) does add some charisma to the screen with his glib style. Sean William Scott and Christopher Walken are fine in supporting roles. However the story line is really nothing special. It certainly lacks depth and basically was written as a vehicle for The Rock to show if his wrestling moves and stunt man abilities. There are other action thrillers that succede on both levels(story and action). Just check out anything by Denzel Washington or even Arnold Schwartzenegger. The Rundown does feature some comedic moments and some good action scenes. However, the story is middle of the road at best.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun movie
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. It was both an action adventure as well as having many funny lines. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to have an enjoyable evening in front of the television.
Rating:
Summary: Running down the Rundown
Review: The Rundown stars The Rock, a likeable person who isn't that great of an actor...but what do you expect him to be, Gregory Peck?? Also featured is Seann William Scott from the American Pie saga, and Rosario Dawson with a bad accent. And Christopher Walken, picking up his paycheck and laughing all the way to the bank. The story, such as it is, follows The Rock, playing Beck, some sort of bounty hunter who is assigned to bring Travis (Scott) back from some South American country at the request of his father. Like The Talented Mr Ripley! Once there in this country, he discovers Walken exploting the natives who work on his mine, and this angers up Beck's anti-globalization blood. Travis, it seems, is looking for an ancient artifact that's worth a lot of money, but Walken wants it as well, so he tails Travis and The Rock follows because he wants to bring Travis home. Or something. Does the plot matter? No. There are explosions, fights, unbelievable action sequences involving whips and jungle vines, monkeys, hallucinatory fruit, and some fist-pumping "Hell yeah, go get 'em" action at the end. When Beck tells Travis at the beginning that he doesn't like guns because he goes insane in the brain when he uses them, well you just know at the end Beck's gonna pick up a gun and go haywire. Don't watch The Rundown expecting Citizen Kane. If you want to give your mind a rest, go ahead and buy this film. It's doubtful you'd watch it more than once, but whatever.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: I'd seen Rock's other movies: The Scorpion King and Walking Tall. So, being a fan, I had to see The Rundown. Reading the cover, I expected it to be the weakest of the three. Man, was I surprised. It's probably the best of the three! The Rundown has more humor and more action. It's easily the most fun to watch. The Rock is the next big action-adventure star so it's nice to see a brief cameo by Arnold Schwartzenager where he sort of passes the baton to The Rock.
Rating:
Summary: good fun all around
Review: Bounty hunter Beck [the Rock] ventures deep into the Amazon in pursuit of his boss' AWOL, troublesome son [Scott], who is pursuing an ancient gold icon hidden somewhere in the jungle. Pretty soon, the two of them are both being pursued by the mercenaries of mining baron Hatcher [Walken]. A tight, good-humoured, and surprisingly well-made film, with some eye-popping effects and well-constructed fight scenes alongside the typical buddy-flic humor. The Rock more than holds his own as a comic lead, Scott's wannabe Indy Jones is a refreshing departure from his American Pie days, and Walken is a nuts as ever.
Rating:
Summary: You like thunderstorms big boy?
Review: How about some thunder, and a little lightning. Thunder, lightning, thunder, lightning......
A mob boss's "retrieval expert" is sent to the Amazon to retrieve the boss's son, who is currently looking for a priceless treasure.
Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights and the upcoming Splinter Cell) looks like a star in the making. Peterberg takes this wonderful cast, and delivers in a way no one could have expected. I was extremely disappointed with the title of the film, but that is the only thing I could find wrong with this movie. The story, action sequences, and character development was wonderful.
I feel some people are just bias against The Rock, because of how he became famous. If people were this bias against Schwarzenegger movies when he first came out we wouldn't have classics like Conan, Terminator, True Lies, and Total Recall, amongst others. Schwarzenegger's movie got better as he starred in more movies, however, he didn't come out the gate the way The Rock did. I would say The Scorpion King is far superior to Hercules in New York, but that's just me. The Rocks acting in this movie was very underrated.
Seann William Scott was brilliant in this movie. Of course he was the comic relief, but again, his acting is better then expected. He was funny, serious, obsessed, greedy, manipulative, and showed a whole spectrum of characteristics in his role as Travis. I feel some actors get overly categorized, and not given a chance to grow. Seann William Scott matured as an actor just in watching American Pie from the original, to the sequel, to the final, and is only getting better.
Christopher Walken was a brilliant bad guy, and his aura/persona oozed from his character. He had a very strong screen presence, and his speech about "dropping the ball," could be delivered by no one else. Rosario Dawson was also very, very good in this movie, starring as a local, tough girl. Her slacker bartender routine with The Rock was extremely funny. Then there was my man Ernie Reyes Jr. (the kid from "The Last Dragon"), who beat down the rock in the jungle.
This movie is well put together, very fun, and action packed. The individuals hating on this movie are only doing so because it stars the Rock. You have to at least give this movie a rental, it deserves that, and then you will find yourself buying it. I would call it a must have in your DVD collection, and should be used as a stepping-stone for The Rock for him to grow as an action star!!!
Grade: A
Rating:
Summary: utterly implausible, but fun at times
Review:
In the opening scene of "The Rundown," the current governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, stops by for a brief moment to pass the torch off to Dwayne Douglas Johnson - a.k.a. The Rock - officially anointing him as the action hero star for the new millennium.
In this film, The Rock plays a wannabe restaurateur who finds himself in hock to a vicious mob boss. To work off his debt, the rock-solid behemoth becomes a retrieval expert, strong arming other people into paying what THEY owe to the gangster. For his final assignment, the Rock is sent off to the jungles of South America to find and bring back the boss's recalcitrant son, who is busy searching for some buried Indian treasure and making a general pest of himself. While there, The Rock becomes involved in a small war between a gold miner who has virtually enslaved the native population (who else but Christopher Walken?) and the band of rebels out to defeat him and regain freedom for their people.
"The Rundown" is a fairly standard action adventure film in which the ever-resilient hero is able to pulverize a whole army of armed-to-the-teeth bad guys with little more than his own bare hands and without suffering a single scratch in the process. No matter how many times he gets punched, kicked, stomped on, thrown into the air or tossed over a cliff, The Rock always manages to pick himself up, dust himself off and fight again. Writer R.J. Stewart and director Peter Berg make it a point to emphasize The Rock's humanity by having him rarely use a gun when fighting (and then only as a last resort) and by giving him a homey domestic dimension in the form of his culinary talents. There's something downright incongruous about having a human side of beef beating everyone he meets into a bloody pulp, all the while declaring that he is really opposed to violence on principle. The film is also filled with all the verbal bantering, wisecracks and quips one has come to expect from these big budget action pictures. Some of the humor works and some of it doesn't.
Although The Rock has yet to develop his chops as an actor, he has a certain laidback charm that works well on screen. He is effectively paired with Seann William Scott (Stifler from the "American Pie" movies), who has a ball playing the hyper kinetic jokester who just happens to be hiding a heart of gold under his mercenary exterior. The two develop a kind of nagging, love/hate relationship that generates a few laughs along the way. Rosario Dawson, with her seamless, pearly white teeth and perfectly coiffed hair, is far from convincing as a woman who is a bartender by day and a jungle-dwelling revolutionary by night. She is so grave and serious in her overall demeanor that she seems to be acting in a whole other movie entirely.
The Rock has a long way to go before he finds a vehicle even half as good as the best that Arnold has done, but "The Rundown" has its moments.
Rating:
Summary: How 'Bout THE RUBDOWN
Review: This flick offers up three MALE HUNKS deserving of such treatment- The Rock, Seann Scott & best of all- ERNIE REYES JR.of Surf Ninja fame. And we don't just get a GREAT MOVIE. The extras include featurettes that also do justice to their pumped physiques with countless shots of their bare torsos. Filmed in South America The Rock is sent there to bring back stud Scott but a local boss decides to step in to make things difficult. That would be Christopher Walken. He never takes his shirt off-thank God. Anyway, Mr. Reyes is onboard to play Manito the magnificent- so dubbed by me 'cause he's never looked better 'shirtless' & this time around his acting actually shines. He plays the part of a tribe leader beautifully. Here he's captured our heroes & wants answers & fast. Trust me- this MARTIAL ARTS DUDE has never been more 'deliciously displayed.' Never willing to take a backseat to anyone when it comes to flashing some SERIOUS FLESH, he decides to fight The Rock with all his muscles BULGIN' TO BEAT THE BAND- which is fine with me. Either he only takes roles now where he's allowed to mezmorize his audience with his superbly chiseled bod or writers & directors have simply typecast him 'physical persence personified.' His pipes are huge, his pecs are pointy perfect, his abs are ripped, his shoulders are layered, his- well you get the point. Rosario Dawson eventually comes to THE GUYS rescue but doesn't treat us to any cleavage in a role that begged for it- or at least I did. I've always enjoyed The Rock. He's got a ways to go with his acting but overall made the plot believable. Seann Scott merely serves as icing on the cake. These MACHO flicks are MY CUP OF TEA. I eat them up & here we have plenty of dessert to go around & then some.
|
