My friends saw this film and like it. It has a decent review on IMDB, and it received some good reviews when it came out in theaters. That's why I was so disappointed when I actually saw it.
"The Rundown" is nothing more than a Steven Seagall clone with better actors. The film has great cinematography, some nice action sequences, incredible fight scenes, but is sideswiped by an incredibly weak plot. The director tries to create personalities for each of the characters, but fails miserably. I couldn't figure out during this film if there was supposed to be a love connection between Mariana and Travis or not. It's hinted at but not explained. At one point it looked like there would be one between her and Beck. Her entire character could have been removed from the film and it would have made no difference.
The story also tries to set up some type of past history about The Rock and how he hates guns, yet never expands on it further than having him say he doesn't use guns because "bad things happen." Was he in the military? Did he kill someone? No, it's just an excuse to have him use his fists more, all up until the end when that' all thrown out of the window.
Most importantly, why does Travis' father want his son back so badly? Does he plan on holding him captive when he gets home? Why is Beck indebted to his father anyway? This film is LOADED with confusing plot holes, and it would have made more sense to dumb it down and just remove all the extraneous backstories. However, the most ridiculous part of the story is the completely pointless cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is simply shown at a bar passing The Rock and saying "have fun." "Have fun?" What does this mean? I have tried to figure out, and seen this question debated endlessly with no resolution. They simply thought it would be cool to have him in the movie. At the very least they could have given him a line that made sense or had his cameo contribute to the film instead of leaving the viewer bewildered.
As I said, the acting is acceptable, and The Rock does a decent job, much more than I'd expect from watching his wrestling performances. However the attempts at humor inserted into the film are horrible. Sean Williams Scott has some type of "thunder and lightning" fighting routine that is supposed to be funny, but comes off as just plain embarrassing. This isn't an "American Pie" sequel, it's an action movie. Save the lame comedy bits for something else, or insert routine that are actually funny. Forced comedy also fails with Ewen Bremner, who is inserted into this film s another additional character the film could do without. He has a few lines during the film, but at the end the director gives him a Scottish accent and tries to get a few jokes out of him. Those wasted two minutes could have been better used just having The Rock beat up some more people.
The other part where the acting fails however, is with Walken. Thankfully, he leaves his trademark accent concealed during the movie, but he just doesn't come off as a believable villain. He's not tough enough, and for this type of film, there should be a final showdown between The Rock and the bad guy, not the weak anticlimactic scene that fills up the last 5 minutes of the movie.
"The Rundown" is nothing more than a Steven Seagall clone with better actors. The film has great cinematography, some nice action sequences, incredible fight scenes, but is sideswiped by an incredibly weak plot. The director tries to create personalities for each of the characters, but fails miserably. I couldn't figure out during this film if there was supposed to be a love connection between Mariana and Travis or not. It's hinted at but not explained. At one point it looked like there would be one between her and Beck. Her entire character could have been removed from the film and it would have made no difference.
The story also tries to set up some type of past history about The Rock and how he hates guns, yet never expands on it further than having him say he doesn't use guns because "bad things happen." Was he in the military? Did he kill someone? No, it's just an excuse to have him use his fists more, all up until the end when that' all thrown out of the window.
Most importantly, why does Travis' father want his son back so badly? Does he plan on holding him captive when he gets home? Why is Beck indebted to his father anyway? This film is LOADED with confusing plot holes, and it would have made more sense to dumb it down and just remove all the extraneous backstories. However, the most ridiculous part of the story is the completely pointless cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is simply shown at a bar passing The Rock and saying "have fun." "Have fun?" What does this mean? I have tried to figure out, and seen this question debated endlessly with no resolution. They simply thought it would be cool to have him in the movie. At the very least they could have given him a line that made sense or had his cameo contribute to the film instead of leaving the viewer bewildered.
As I said, the acting is acceptable, and The Rock does a decent job, much more than I'd expect from watching his wrestling performances. However the attempts at humor inserted into the film are horrible. Sean Williams Scott has some type of "thunder and lightning" fighting routine that is supposed to be funny, but comes off as just plain embarrassing. This isn't an "American Pie" sequel, it's an action movie. Save the lame comedy bits for something else, or insert routine that are actually funny. Forced comedy also fails with Ewen Bremner, who is inserted into this film s another additional character the film could do without. He has a few lines during the film, but at the end the director gives him a Scottish accent and tries to get a few jokes out of him. Those wasted two minutes could have been better used just having The Rock beat up some more people.
The other part where the acting fails however, is with Walken. Thankfully, he leaves his trademark accent concealed during the movie, but he just doesn't come off as a believable villain. He's not tough enough, and for this type of film, there should be a final showdown between The Rock and the bad guy, not the weak anticlimactic scene that fills up the last 5 minutes of the movie.