I honestly don't know what people who hated The Rundown expected going into the theater. The ads and TV spots proudly claim that the movie's star is none other than The Rock, a man whose acting abilities are a cut above those of a recently refurnished cabinet. And good gravy, his co-star is Sean William Scott, AKA Stiffler from the American Pie trilogy. So, again I ask, who thought this was going to be the next classic action extravaganza? In the end, while I agree that The Rundown is pretty ridiculous, there are so many other films out there that are so much worse I can't really criticize it too harshly. Some of the fight sequences were actually pretty creative, my favorite being when The Rock went up against a group of midget revolutionaries. Those little guys kept that wrestler up in the air for minutes on end with their kicks and punches, and for the most part I was kept interested. Of course, the physics involved in these fights make little sense, but who cares? It's not like Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle was any more coherent, and I liked that movie just fine. But there are more than a few rotten eggs in this mixture that keep me from giving it a full thumbs up. First off, I'd like to reaffirm my belief that The Rock is not a great actor. His only facial expressions are 1) angry and 2) sufficiently miffed. Plus the script saddles him with this horrible "signature" where he gives his opponents two options. Option A usually goes something like, "You give me the (fill in the blank) right now and walk away," while Option B is, "I take the (fill in the blank) and beat you like dirty rug." This being an action movie, no one ever takes Option A so that we the audience can get another fight sequence. Secondly, the banter between Sean William Scott and The Rock is really simple and not at all clever or especially funny. Their "wacky" arguments quickly dissolve to childish, "Your mom! Shut up!" insults that go nowhere and show a lack of originality in the writers. As for Christopher Walken, who plays the villain here, he overracts so much that he comes off as a cartoon character. His tooth fairy monologue is hilariously bad, and whenever he laughs it's so Snidley Whiplash in nature that you want to smack the big doofus. Considering that some of Mr. Walken's recent roles come from flops like The Country Bears and Gigli, maybe he should rethink his game plan. But like I said earlier, The Rundown is easily digested and quickly forgotten fluff, and is no where near as painful as, say, From Justin to Kelly. I just wish I could convince the friends I went with of that! 1.5/4 stars
Review of The Rundown
