The Rundown (2003)

This 2003 action-comedy stars Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken. Johnson plays Beck, a bounter hunter turned chef who is sent to find his employer's son, Travis (Scott) in the Brazilian jungle. While on his mission, Beck runs into obstacles meeting new allies and enemies. Dawson (Sin City) plays Mariana, a rebel leader/bartender and Walken (At Close Range) plays Hatcher, a ruthless, Despot who is searching for an ancient artifact that Travis has hidden. This is a good flick with a great cast, good score and thrilling action sequences. Johnson makes his mark in this film and there's a quick cameo by a certain, "Terminator" star.

William Sean Scott goes into the jungle to find a long lost golden relic, worth millions. Dwayne Johnson in the role of a hired muscle is ordered by the father of Sean Scott to bring his son back home. Will Sean Scott find the gold and will Dwayne Johnson succeed in bringing him back home to his father?Hilarious adventure story packed with original and funny fightscenes inter woven with hilariously funny dialogues and oneliners as strong as in any Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Oh yes, Arnold even plays a short cameo role!Most of these Dwayne Johnson muscle action movies I cant stand to watch. They bore me within minutes. I stopped watching them. However I accidentally bumped into this one and miraculously I really enjoyed it a lot! Being a grownup I expect some good and witty dialogues and some believablility of the story and the characters. Unfortunately 90% of those action blockbusters are made for kids, who just wanna see explosions and more explosions. This action movie fortunately can be enjoyed by adults as well. Why? Because it has sound jokes and witty dialogues that stay fresh even after a second viewing. I've already seen it three times now and I enjoyed the jokes as much as during the first viewing.Furthermore violence is funny and cartoonlike and has got a gentleman quality to it. I love that. This movie truly excells beyond the regular popcorn action blockbusters. There is real attention for detail for the grownups who can appreciate the finer qualities of movies: slick editing, gorgeous photograpy, meticulously smooth soundtrack. Really quality stuff that can be enjoyed by kids AND adults as well. Great fun stuff!

In the year 2000, charismatic WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made his acting debut in "The Mummy Returns", the viewers thought "here we go again", another wrestling superstar making a fool of himself by starring in another convoluted action film! It's been done!" We all hoped he would just simply put on the trunks and just grapple with Steve Austin or Triple H and headline another pay- per-view. But he didn't let the critics get the best of him. He took himself to other avenues in the entertainment community where his talents were appreciated. He was a guest on the long-running sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" where he excelled quite nicely as a comedic performer and did well as satirization to near perfection. Then in 2002, he returned to the big screen for another tryout. He reprised his role in "The Mummy Returns" spin-off "The Scorpion King" and though not entirely The Rock's fault the script and the movie as a whole was a flop, and once again he was the centre of ridicule as another no- talent wrestler/actor wannabe. But his guest performances on SNL proved contrary if given the right scripting for him to work on. In 2003, The Rock stars in "The Rundown" which combines adventure mixed in with spectacular comedic elements to it. In many ways it feels like a satirical take on the Indiana Jones films of the 1980's set in the Amazon jungles of Brazil. The Rock seems to be closer at home here as he juxtaposes his knack for comedic smarminess and his ability to excite us with the action scenes splendidly. "The Rundown" turned this wannabe actor into the real deal. The Rock stars as Beck, a bounty hunter who's been assigned to scour the Brazilian jungles to a mining village of El Dorado to rescue the son who's father is the leader of an organized crime establishment. The spoiled stubborn son goes by the name Travis (Seann William Scott) who at the time was the right person to play spoiled whiny twenty-somethings. The head honcho is a guy named Hatcher (Christopher Walken) who has successfully gain access to his worker's lives by charging them a bundle in cost of living expenses as well as blackmailing them every chance he gets and is not afraid to utilize strong-arm tactics. Travis can't escape where he is, but also really has no intentions for that matter. He believes there's a treasure nearby with loot that's gregariously sufficient in profit. Hatcher wants his end of the deal too which is why he refrains from shooting Beck and Travis when Beck lures him away through trial and tribulation. This leads to a high octane chase as Beck tries to lure Travis out of the Amazonian jungles with Hatcher's troop not far behind them. To make things more complex than we have thought, there are few people who oppose Hatcher and his intentions. Beck and Travis are befriended by a local villager named Mariana who also has intentions of obtaining the treasure as a means to free her villagers from Hatcher's clutches. I guess we needed a human rights diatribe implanted in this action flick, but I couldn't care the least. The film was directed by Peter Berg with a script by written by R.J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt is extremely entertaining and vibrant. The verbal jabs between The Rock and Scott are humorous and clever and the fight scenes exhibits just how tough The Rock is as he fends off against his adversaries with ease is high in adrenaline that will approve to action movie aficionados. And what can be said about screen veteran Christopher Walken? This man doesn't care what film he's in whether good or bad? Heck, this guy will even perform in a movie gratis if he wanted to. As long as there's some eccentricity implanted into his deadpan delivery. His resume during this period sees him starring in very forgettable films that is inferior to his impressive career of films that he has starred in. But "The Rundown" may not be an Oscar calibre film like "The Deer Hunter", but it's still a great film and Walken plays a very prominent role here and if Walken generates more screen time the more entertained I am. His delivery of lines is very poetic almost like as if he knew the script before reading or maybe he's just a naturally eccentric individual. What's refreshing here is that our protagonist refuses to bear any arms due to a horrific experience with them. Besides knowing his size and strength, why does he need them? But once the movie becomes gun dependent, the timing was well planned. Too many movies feature gratuitous gun fight and it becomes monotonous and mundane. But the gun fights are minimal and only when needed is original. This movie is one that truly unsuspecting pleasant surprise. For those who love action, clever dialogue and plenty of Walken, this movie is highly recommended for all to enjoy.

Hands Down the best thing about this movie is Schwarzenegger's cameo where he sees The Rock and tells him 'Have Fun' at the Main Menu you can find a couple of Trailers and one of them is Terminator 3: Rise of Machines starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie is directed by Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) and stars Dwayne Johnson, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson and Seann William Scott and it's about a tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure. Well acted and well directed The Rundown is one of The Rock's best movies and there's a pretty great chemistry between him and Scott but also Dawson. Walken is great as always especially when it comes to be the bad guy and the film also has a great sense of humor especially when The Rock punches Sean in the face multiple times. I had a great fun and the movie is really really good it's been like decades since i saw it and it's still pretty good.