Today I walked into the DVD rental looking for just one film to watch before bed. Martin (aka the owner and an excellent movie guy) asked me what I wanted to see. I said: “Give me some action. Something fast. I haven’t slept for some time now and I don’t want to fall asleep while watching a movie”. He stood up walked to the first shelve with films picked up one from right in the middle of it and said: “Have you seen this one?”. “The Rundown” and the picture of the guy who played in the Scorpion King were on one side. A couple of screenshots with guys holding guns on the other side. Doesn’t say much. And the title was stupid. And this guy can’t act(*). But I said “What the heck, I’ll take it”.
And that’s how I went on into surprise. I was unprepared. Actually I was in the most unprepared condition for an excellent action movie that I could ever be. “The Rundown” is a pure action movie. Nothing more, nothing less. But it is so good at being action that I cannot truly remember when I saw something like this last time. The movie is indeed really fast. The story is simple and pretty much predictable. But the production is perfect.
More than that. I was impressed by the martial arts scene. Last time that happened back with the first Matrix movie. This is something you have to see. It is not about the choreography or the style. It is in totally different perspective. Great job! The best part about it is the those who did the scene, knew that it was impressive. So they gave a small brake in action to appreciate it. I mean they didn’t stop the movie. There were still plenty of shooting going on around. But that was something you could miss. Pretty regular. And just after a second I thought that this movie was worth it, they put me back into real action again. Wow!
The competition between The Rock (I wonder what you would pick as a nickname if your name was Dwayne Douglas Johnson) and Seann William Scott sound good already. Add some Ewen Bremner with some English humour in the jungles. Add sexy looking Rosario Dawson as a rebel with a gun. And add Christopher Walken playing a bad guy in style. And what you’ve got here is a kicking combination which even Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t ignore even if only for just a second.
Any way, summing up: a great movie with great action and impressive fight scene, with lots of gun shooting, chasing, and few laughs, providing an excellent entertainment. In my book that deserves a 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, or a 100 out of a 100. Pick your units.
(*) Recently, I’ve been enlightened by Goblin. Here is roughly what he said in Russian: “Some people think that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a bad actor. This is a misconception. Arnold is a great actor. But, the only role he play is himself. And he does it great”. I used to think that he is a bad actor, but now I do agree that I was wrong. :) The Rock becomes a pretty good actor too this way. But he too can only play himself. His filmography proves it in a way.
Just watched “Suicide Kings” on DVD.
Having nothing better to do, watched “