WWE's the Rock: A Trawl Through 10 of Dwayne Johnson's Worst and Best Movies
Let me just state here and now—I love The Rock. He cuts a great promo, and it's very rare you catch him corpsing (mentioning no names, *cough* John Cena *cough*). When he branched out into mainstream studio movies, he was tipped for great things.
But when the Miz did that spiel a few weeks ago, he made an important observation—The Rock's films have grossed over a billion dollars.. Cumulatively. For a man who's made a couple of dozen movies over a decade, that's...really not much, right?
So—is The Rock picking the wrong scripts? Or should he be sticking to what made him famous in the first place?
WWE's the Rock: The Mummy Returns
1 of 11This action-adventure film gave The Rock a cameo as the Scorpion King, leaving Brendan Fraser (previously of George of the Jungle fame) and Rachel Weisz (with Oscars still in her future) to carry the can for a proliferation of mixed reviews.
WWE's the Rock: The Scorpion King
2 of 11Still, mixed reviews notwithstanding, the producers thought highly enough of The Rock to let him lead the cast for this prequel. Yes, that's his picture predominating the movie poster (although to be fair the supporting actors aren't anywhere near as recognisable as the people's champion). Another set of mixed reviews followed, but this time round The Rock did at least have enough to do to result in some positive feedback on his individual performance.
WWE's the Rock: Be Cool
3 of 11On paper, this looked like a great role, I'm sure. Unfortunately Be Cool, a sequel to Get Shorty, was a total and utter flop. John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn and Harvey Keitel couldn't rescue the wretched script, and though he probably could if you put him in a ring with a mic and 15,000 cheering fans, The Rock couldn't either. Though he did his best by performing a monologue from Bring It On.
WWE's the Rock: Gridiron Gang
4 of 11If in doubt, take a role based on real life events. You'll be odds-on for an Oscar. Just ask Helen Mirren (The Queen), Colin Firth (The King's Speech) or Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side). It didn't quite turn out that way for The Rock in Gridiron Gang, as the probation officer who changes the kids' lives, but it's another decent performance from him in a rather cliche laden film.
WWE's the Rock: The Game Plan
5 of 11Pray silence, please. This Disney flick was the last one that used The Rock's ring name. After 2007, he's officially Serious Actor Dwayne Johnson. It seems by this point in his movie career he'd realised that his strength is performing ridiculous comedy (usually physical comedy) with an entirely straight face. He does that well in this family film, including a foray into ballet, an allergic reaction to cinnamon, and the inevitable happy-ever-after. Hurrah!
WWE's the Rock: Get Smart
6 of 11Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway are our heroes in this, meaning The Rock turns heel as the villainous Agent 23, who gets to kiss both the stars before being squished in a car/train collision. He probably won't be back for the mooted sequel, then. Shame—this was a nifty little lightweight comedy, and we all know The Rock revels in playing a charismatic baddie. Also, the Great Khali makes a cameo in this.
WWE's the Rock: Race to Witch Mountain
7 of 11This is the Rock's second Disney movie, and again he holds the cast together as an ex-con taxi driver assisting some supernaturally skilled young people looking to return home (no, I'm not talking about the Brood). Not great reviews for this one, which some people may claim doesn't matter as it's a kids' film, but surely Disney ought to be able to find better stuff for a decent comedy performer to do?
WWE's the Rock: The Tooth Fairy
8 of 11You can see that Disney are taking Serious Actor Dwayne more seriously by virtue of the supporting cast—Dame Julie Andrews, goddess of the family friendly flick. More to the point, Dame Julie was somewhat enamoured of our leading man, pronouncing him to be "delicious". And once again, the Rock does his best with a fairly rubbish script. He must surely have been reassuring himself that at least starring in a badly written Disney film is better than starring in a badly written WWE film.
WWE's the Rock: The Other Guys
9 of 11Well, the Rock deserves better than this—being killed off in the first few minutes in a Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg vehicle. Still, he gets killed off in a spectacular way, and he does it alongside Samuel L Jackson, which has to look good on the resume.
WWE's the Rock: Fast 5
10 of 11OK, so I've not seen it yet, but I'm fairly sure this is going to be dreadful, based on the fact that the previous four have been (I'm sorry, but it's true). The Rock's character sounds interesting, though, as the federal agent who realises that right and wrong aren't as clear cut as he always thought.
WWE's the Rock: What Next?
11 of 11
The Rock's return to the WWE is not before time. Clearly movie studios don't know how to use him properly—and this is a man with a real gift for performance and story-telling, even by pro-wrestling's standards. But he's put together a wide-ranging body of work with some stellar colleagues, so perhaps after Wrestlemania XXVIII he can return to film once more and expect some good scripts that draw on his abilities properly.
Fluffy Disney comedian or all-action hero—what kind of role do you think Dwayne Johnson does best on the silver screen?
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