I watched this movie with a sense of fear at the start. Following on from the fun, but stupid, The Scorpion King, would The Rock�s next feature film fare any better? Lets face it, Hulk Hogan�s career went downhill after Suburban Commando (on a similar vein to The Scorpion King). All I need say is Mr Nanny to sum that up. I breathed a sigh of relief 5 minutes into the movie, and kicked myself for even thinking this would be bad. After all, The Rock has so much charisma, and an on-screen presence that would make even Arnie tremble. The Governator himself does make a brief cameo, a nice touch as he passes the torch, when he and The Rock pass each other in a nightclub. Two simple words, �Have fun�, say it all.
Anyway, Rocky plays Beck, a guy who wants to set up his own restaurant and enjoy the quiet life, but to get the capital he needs, he acts as a bounty hunter/debt collector for his shady boss. Beck fails to finish a job, despite taking out an entire offensive line of football players, which is an awesome opening scene. So now Beck is sent on one last job to clear his debt, and bring back the boss� son Travis (Scott) from the remote Brazilian town of El Dorado. Hatcher (Walken) is a particularly nasty piece of work; he forces the townsfolk to work as slave labour in his mine. He soon learns that Travis is on the hunt for a priceless hidden artefact known as the �Gato�, which belongs to the people, thus putting his mine in jeopardy, so naturally he and his army of thugs are out to stop Beck's plans, and Travis from finding the hidden treasure. From there it becomes a game of cat-and-mouse, as Beck and Travis plod their way through some funny set-pieces including paralysing fruit, tree-swinging rebels and horny monkeys (funny as hell!).
Sounds like its been done a hundred times before. Probably, but I cant remember having this much simple fun since an Indiana Jones flick! Rocky's acting lessons have paid off, he�s given more of a chance to show what he can do this time. His range of emotions, characterisation and comic-timing are all very good, along with some fantastic fight scenes as you would expect from a former wrestler. Seann William Scott plays off The Rock well and is quite funny throughout, but you could change the character to Stiffler and you wouldn�t notice the difference. Christopher Walken looks as though he�s had fun, an easy pay-day and some funny lines to make things worth while, but Rosario Dawson doesn�t have a lot to do except look pretty.
Lets face it though, this was all about Rocky and Scott larking around providing good entertainment, and this it achieves. The ending is slightly A-Teamish and OTT, but the one thing that�ll stand out in your mind as you leave the cinema is �that�s more like it!�. More please Rock; choose the right movies with the right cast and big things are coming for you. |
