Review: Walking Tall (2004)

Directed by: Kevin Bray | 87 minutes | action, drama, thriller | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough, Michael Bowen, Kristen Wilson, Ashley Scott, Khleo Thomas, John Beasley, Barbara Tarbuck, Kevin Durand, Andrew Tarbet

“Walking Tall” is an action movie of which we have already seen hundreds. One man taking on a group of criminals. The story itself is based on a true story and has also been filmed before. In 1973 the original “Walking Tall” was released, starring Joe Don Baker. Two more sequels followed. The main character in those movies was Sheriff Buford Pusser. Now in 2004 The Rock performs the same role, only they have changed the name to Chris Vaughn. Vaughn is an ex-Marine who returns to his hometown after eight years, but everything has changed. Sex, drugs and violence are rampant in the city and no one, not even the sheriff, does anything about it. Vaughn wants to wipe the town clean of all the scum. He is running for sheriff and together with his buddy he goes against the casino owner Jay Hamilton, who is the source of all the misery in the city.

After Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said goodbye to his wrestling career, he devoted himself fully to acting. Since his starring role in “The Scorpion King” (2002), it has been said that he will be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger and it is starting to look like that. His previous film “Welcome to the Jungle” (2003) was not a hit, but he showed that the action genre suits him. Now in this remake he can once again be the action hero. He is assisted in his fight against crime by Johnny Knoxville. This man made famous for his MTV stunt series “Jackass” has a fun role as Deputy Sheriff Ray. Knoxville provides some humor between the action scenes.

The story of “Walking Tall” has very little to do and the course of the story is also very obvious. You already know in advance that despite the setbacks he faces, The Rock eventually wins and gets the girl. The film offers nothing more than ordinary action scenes and a few nice jokes. The highlight of the film is when The Rock angrily walks into Jay Hamilton’s casino and with a large piece of wood, completely smashes things to pieces. This says something about the level of the film. The Rock, Knoxville and Neal McDonough are well cast, they know how to ensure that the film does not go completely wrong. “Walking Tall” is fun to see. If you want to see a simple action movie with The Rock then you are definitely in the right place with “Walking Tall”.