Welcome to the Jungle (2003) (aka: The Rundown) starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Walken, directed by Peter Berg Movie Review

Welcome to the Jungle (2003)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Dwayne Johnson in Welcome to the Jungle (2003) (aka: The Rundown)

Rock in a Jungle

Beck (Dwayne Johnson) is a retrieval expert, aka he is a bounty hunter but one who wants out to start his own restaurant. His boss agrees to let him go if he will go to Brazil and find his treasure hunting son Travis (Seann William Scott) from his third marriage and bring him home. The trouble is that Travis won't leave until he finds the treasure he is after, the same treasure which local bar tender Mariana (Rosario Dawson) is looking for. And then there is the local crime lord Hatcher (Christopher Walken) who also wants the treasure and has the locals working as his slaves.

Thank goodness for movies like "Welcome to the Jungle" they renew my belief that there is a place for simple entertainment in today's world and are exactly what I want after watching two supposedly great movies which only managed to under whelm me. But don't get me wrong as "Welcome to the Jungle" isn't a great movie, it has countless flaws but it gets close to recreating the action entertainment of the 80s which was influential in my cinematic education.

Seann William Scott in Welcome to the Jungle (2003) (aka: The Rundown)

Now "Welcome to the Jungle" is simple, bounty hunter tries to take young man back to L.A. various people try to stop him whilst they have to find a treasure all of which means there are a string of action scenes, fights, chases, tumbles in the jungle and all the sorts of things you would have seen in an action movie during the 80s. Yes and that means there are lots of one liners, corny pieces of cheesy dialogue and lost of tongue embedded deep into the cheek. But do you know what this sort of thing worked in the 80s and works again as does the fact that whilst heavily stylized in places with actors and stuntmen plying their trade rather than computer animators it is entertaining in an old fashioned way.

What is nice is that in Dwayne Johnson we have an old fashioned action star, big build, big facial expressions and a capability to deliver one liners in that straight faced but amusing way. Johnson also works well with Seann William Scott who throws himself about nicely in the comedy sidekick role but one which has more action about him than just funny man. In fact Christopher Walken as the evil tyrant Hatcher brings just as much comedy.

What this all boils down to is that "Welcome to the Jungle" is good old fashioned 80s action but with newer stars and modern styling and it works. It is the perfect sort of movie when you want to watch something but not need to pay close attention to what is going on.


LATEST REVIEWS