The Rundown

[metroshane]

I was thoroughly entertained by this film...which is what I wanted.

"But they have a legitimate shot at repeatin."

But personally, I'm getting a little tired of Walken's schtick.  It's a great pony, but still one trick.

[pete]

walken's done other great things, even in hallmark movies with Glenn Close.  He was funny in that, he should always have dialogues longer than two sentences so he can pause and scream and do whatever that makes him unhatable.
But the best scene was by far the pygmies fight scene, capoera meets wreslting was pretty cool, and the Rock's double took some pretty crazy falls, wired or not.  Great to see Ernie Reyes Jr. back.

[metroshane]

The rocks stunt man is actually his cousin.

[Ghostboy]

This movie was a lot of fun. The whole climactic action sequence that intercuts the fight with Ewen Bremner talking about whatever was just great. Peter Berg must have a thing for hitting bizarre, maniacal high points with bagpipe music -- he did the same thing in the big speech in Very Bad Things where Christian Slater ends up kissing whoever it was he was talking to.

I loved Ernie Reyes Jr. back in the days of Ninja Turtles 2.

[Ravi]

This movie was a lot of fun. The whole climactic action sequence that intercuts the fight with Ewen Bremner talking about whatever was just great. Peter Berg must have a thing for hitting bizarre, maniacal high points with bagpipe music -- he did the same thing in the big speech in Very Bad Things where Christian Slater ends up kissing whoever it was he was talking to.

The bagpipe thing was cool.

I loved Ernie Reyes Jr. back in the days of Ninja Turtles 2.

THAT'S where I saw him before.  He was the pizza boy!

[pete]

he had a show called sidekicks that pretty much inspired me to study martial arts and film.  He was my primer.  My friend trains with him sometimes over there in LA.

[MacGuffin]

It was an above average action film, but I didn't see anything that really advanced the genre like all the hype has been saying. It didn't really do anything that "Romancing The Stone" or "Midnight Run" did better. Seann William Scott kinda got annoying by the end. But I liked The Rock and could see him being part of the new action stars (but don't use shots where you can totally see it's his stunt man). Walken wasn't given enough to do, and was somewhat wasted.

[MacGuffin]

The Rock Finds Instant Karma
Source: Variety

New Line Cinema has given the go ahead to The Rock comedy Instant Karma, to be produced by visual f/x studio Digital Domain and Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott.

The film will blend live action and CGI to tell the story of a safecracker, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who dies and is reincarnated as a series of different animals, moving his way up the food chain.

Pierce Brosnan, Mira Sorvino, David Alan Grier and Eartha Kitt also star in the live-action elements, while Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Gene Wilder and the comedy troupe Broken Lizard provide voices of the animals.

Paul Hernandez will make his feature writing and directing debut on the film, which is budgeted at $70 million. Production is expected to begin in April in New Orleans.

[Gold Trumpet]

Sounds like an interesting idea. For a wrestling fan, funny production starts in April, the month after Wrestlemania happening in March. May mean Rock may come back to start a feud with someone beginning of '04 to see it end at Wrestlemania.

~rougerum

[MacGuffin]

Be Cool to Start Production with The Rock?
Source: Variety

MGM will begin production in January on Be Cool, the Get Shorty sequel that F. Gary Gray will direct, with John Travolta reprising his role as Chili Palmer. The studio is also courting Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to play a bodyguard-singer who develops an uneasy alliance with Palmer.

Be Cool moves the loan shark-turned film producer Palmer away from the feature film business and into the music industry. In short order, Chili witnesses the murder of his music industry friend by the mob, he agrees to manage an up-and-coming singer, and he's threatened by her mob-connected manager.

The Rock would play the manager's bodyguard, a big guy who wants to be a singer and who happens to be gay. After beating him up in their first encounter, Palmer tries to help the tough guy become a film star.

The studio is targeting the film for a holiday 2004 release.

[Weak2ndAct]

Wow!  I heard this was pretty decent, so I had raised expectations, but what I saw exceeded even what I had hoped for.  I really liked this movie a lot for a whole lotta reasons:

- First off, The Rock is the man.  This guy can carry a movie, can act, and can kick some fuckin' ass.
- Walken.  Tooth fairies and Oompah-Loompas.  Nuff Said.
- Peter Berg!  Who woulda thunk it?  There were glimmers of hope in Very Bad Things, but I ultimately gave it the He's really got a handle on the medium, and I was impressed by the fight choreography/staging.  He knows how to use slo-mo right, found all the right beats in a fight to ramp things up/down.  But the best compliment I can give is that the action had it's own style, was unique, and not of the norm (and didn't resort to anything Matrix-like).
- Bagpipes!  
- *gasp* it's actually funny too.

While the movie lost a little steam in the jungle/2nd act, the movie still delivered the goods.  I usually have major gripes w/ PG-13 action movies on priniciple (they often hold back), I felt nothing like that here.  Here's hoping Walking Tall will kick some booty too.

[pete]

dude the choreography and the staging of the fight was totally done by andy cheng, jackie chan's longtime stunt double (though jackie never admitted it) whom had also worked with the rock in the scorpion king.  And I believe Peter Berg probably didn't have that much say in shooting those scenes, since in Hollywood most stunt scenes are directed by the second-unit director.
I know Ernie Reyes Jr. also did a lot of the choreogrpahy during the rumble in the jungle.  He's a friend of a friend and that's just what I've heard.  He was in that show Sidekicks in the 80s, if you remember, about some crime-fighting orphan and his cop foster dad solving crimes every week.  He then went on to do shitty movies like ninja turtle 2 and surf ninja.  Terrible actor, as expected, but acrobatic as shit and can actually whoop ass.  That kind of acrobatic martial arts is the new hot thing, called "trickbusting", a combination of martial arts, break-dance, and gymnastics.
I like the rundown because the rock is so badass in it he doesn't just fight people he also fights buildings.

[modage]

i really did not expect much from this movie but i really enjoyed it.  i agree with most of all what was said.  THIS was a good popcorn movie, nothing groundbreaking, but smart, funny, well choreographed, interesting camerawork, good characters, and the rock was a great lead.  i'd like to see him get a couple roles to really cement him as a great action leading star now, ( i wasnt sold after scorpion king).  the strobe light during the opening was alittle nauseating but overall this movie was a lot of fun.  

[NEON MERCURY]

...i went into blockbuster this past weekend just to rent something 'fun' to watch w/o anything to it.....a good popcorn flick......so i git this......and this film sucks assssssssssssssssssssssss..........now, i all for the good popcorn flick......i  like s.a.w.t., day after tomorrow, predator,  etc........i m not a snob......but this was just dumb.....the reasons are:

sean william scott sucks in this film his character is annoying and not funny at all.....if his humor appeals to you then YOU are the reason why films like these exists......walken was wasted as rosario......she was so bad her performance is unreconizable......if someone told me that was her in this film i wouldn t believe it.....the tooth fairy thing was ghey, in fact this is one of the worst screenplays ever......even the stupid indiana jones ripoff scene were dumb..and the ghetto tarzan  fight scenes werre just silly.......even for a popcorn flick the dialogue and characters sucked......i will say that the rock was decent and  he fits nicely into the new 'actio star' role......[just no vin diesel]......