Review of The Rundown (2003) by Ethan P — 08 Jan 2016

The Rundown is a mildly amusing, pretty average action flick that is straightforward, a little goofy and a little too conservative. Although its tone is solid as a goofy, light adventure, its thematically inconsistent. It can't decide whether it's an Indiana Jones treasure hunt, a story of poverty and rebellion in the jungle or a run of the mill, shoot em up standoff. The one thing this film does very well are the action scenes. In this movie, the fighting is very creative, stylish and fun to watch even if its exaggerated and totally unrealistic. The Rock systematically and brutally takes out bands of people by himself. For a film with so much violence, there was barely any bloodshed or graphic gore. It played it very safe. The film doesn't have much at stake and doesn't develop the characters enough for you to care if they live or die. It's thin and its light, but its down with some style and well-meaning charm.

The Rock actually had considerable charm and gave his performance some surprising dimension. His mercenary was tired of fighting, but really fucking good at it and also an aspiring chef, which was a nice break from cliches, even if it was thinly developed. Sean William Scott and the Rock have some amusing exchanges, but Scott's eccentricity is mostly unfunny and very odd. He does succeed in adding some humor though. Christopher Walken is a very creepy and talented actor, which makes me wonder why he involved himself in such an average film and spouted some very weird lines. Maybe they were meant to be funny or chillingly ironic, but they didn't really land for me. Rosario Dawson is solid as the rebel leader, but the character isn't developed much.