 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Welcome To The Jungle (M)
Directed by Peter Berg
 Mining entrepreneur Hatcher (Christopher Walken) strikes a deal with Beck (The Rock).
Now that Arnie's out of the picture (and out of the pictures literally!) there's a void waiting to be filled - the world desperately needs another bulked-up, muscle-bound, monosyllabic action hero and although those are mighty big shoes to fill, I think I've discovered the perfect candidate: The Rock!
He's certainly got the figure for it and personally I think he's way up there in the cute stakes, (that chiselled jaw and Austrian accent never really did it for me). Best of all is the name: The Rock! It really says it all, doesn't it? (And it rolls off the tongue much easier than Schwarzenegger....)
Ok, ok, so his real name is Dwayne Johnson, but we won't hold that against him and after seeing this wrestler-turned-actor in his latest role as bounty hunter, or "retrieval expert", Beck, in the action-comedy Welcome To The Jungle, it's obvious that given the right movie, he has the potential to be a huge megastar like Arnie or Sly.
Not that this film is a dud - if you're prepared to park you brain at the door and just enjoy the fabulous action scenes. Alternatively, if you're 13-years-old (like the nephew I dragged along), then you're guaranteed a wow of a time. And there's always Christopher Hatcher, as a greedy, heartless American who is exploiting the local Amazons, forcing them to work for a pittance in his huge gold mine.
Beck (The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson) is on a mission, sent to the Amazon to find and "escort" home the wayward son (Sean William Scott) of his Los Angeles loan shark boss. He has no idea he is about to enter Helldorado... a living hell, where, if you're not being hunted by Hatchers henchmen, you're hallucinating after eating rare rainforest fruits (which bear a striking resemblance to custard apples!) or having your face humped by a horny monkey (which is always good for a laugh!)
Unfortunately there were too few laughs in Welcome To The Jungle and the film becomes bogged down when the writers attempt to give it a serious tone.
I mean, give us a break - we're talking about The Rock and Sean William Scott, aka Stifler in American Pie. If I want to see a film with a "message" I'll rent Schindler's List.
But The Rock rocks and Christopher Walken is always fantastic. Just make sure not to blink right at the start or you'll miss a cameo from a certain Californian governor who, as far as actors go, makes a great politician.
Rating: 
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