With this weekend’s release of Snitch — a film I have no particular interest in, but can somewhat see myself enjoying later in the year on DVD for the fun of it — I remember why it is I have such a conflicted thought process towards that movie; The Rock. It’s amazing to me how Dwayne Johnson, former wrestler, has been able to transform himself into this mega star and able to somehow balance the action juggernaut style that the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger became famous for and also be such a likeable guy all the while.
So instead of me wasting my time with Snitch, and staying at home this weekend awaiting for Fast & Furious 6, G.I Joe: Retaliation and Pain and Gain (two films coming out later this starring The Rock), I want to remind you all why it is I have this adoration of this man as an entertainer by sharing with you five scenes that I feel best represent what makes him so great:
5. Be Cool — “Bring it On!”
There’s something about watching The Rock delivering a monologue (which isn’t a monologue) from the seminal cheerleading film Bring It On! which wins.
4. Reno 911!: Miami — “They call me the condor”
I’ve actually never watched an episode of the TV show (I should probably remedy that), but I did see the movie and while I don’t remember being fairly impressed at the time this scene popped out at me and refuses to leave my mind. I mean seriously, “I got ten seconds with these son’s of bitches” puts me in stitches everytime I play the video.
3. Fast Five — Hobbs vs. Dom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLAW_ZgVPnQ
Something about all that muscle and walls being broken makes a fight scene that much more heavy in it’s own way.
2. The Rundown — “The easy way” & Double Shotgun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1rejGFEj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snRXmsMSPGs
So I honestly can’t pick between these two scenes. The Rundown is what I feel is the best representation of what I really hope Snitch will be; a ridiculous B-movie that understands where it lies and just enjoys itself a whole lot. In the first scene we get to see The Rock surprise everyone by beating the crap out of everything in sight. in the next one we see him cocking shotguns with his arm pits, knees, elbows and then eventually shooting them side by side in a “double shotgun” mode that I feel FPS games need to take note of.
1. The Other Guys — “aim for the bushes”
I guess it’s been long enough that it’s ok with me talking about this scene… but OMG where are the bushes? It’s obvious from this list that I focus a lot more on the scenes/films/roles where Johnson is enjoying being ridiculous and funny, which is what I love. In this bit role almost every line he gets is perfect in its lunacy and I thank the writers, casting director and director for this perfect moment.
Andrew, what about Southland Tales? The Rock is so ridiculous, especially when he starts doing all the crazy things with his hands. There are a bunch of good contenders from that movie. It's easily his strangest performance that I've seen.
I saw that film 5 years ago (actually the first post on this blog was a review for that movie) and all I can remember is it being ridiculously bad, and the Rock saying "pimps dont commit suicide" which I considered for this list (which was previous 6 best scenes) but I decided against it because I just can't remember that much about it. I was thinking of revisiting the film and writing about it… undecided as to whether that's happening yet.