Review: Welcome to the Jungle-The Rundown (2003)

Director: Peter Berg | 98 minutes | action, comedy, adventure, thriller | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Christopher Walken, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, Ewen Bremner, Jon Gries, William Lucking, Ernie Reyes Jr., Stuart F. Wilson, Dennis Keiffer, Garrett Warren, Toby Holguin, Paul S. Power, Stephen Bishop

“Welcome to the Jungle” is directed by actor / director Peter Berg. His previous film was the dark comedy “Very Bad Things” (1998) with Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater. Berg creates a mix of action, humor and adventure with “Welcome to the Jungle”.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was already popular as a wrestler in America. After his acting debut in “The Mummy Returns” (2001) and his lead role in “The Scorpion King” (2002), he now has his second lead role. He plays Beck a man who hates guns and throws his body into battle time and again. For example, at the beginning of the film we see that he competes against a number of football players. In Hollywood, The Rock is seen as the new action hero.

After seeing this film they can be agreed. The action scenes with him look good and he shows that he can act well. In his next film “Walking Tall” (2004), we see him as Sheriff Chris Vaughn (based on Buford Pusser), who starts a one-man war against the criminals in his town. So for now we will see enough of The Rock.

The “bad guy” is played by Christopher Walken. This fantastic actor always manages to play a perfect role. Last year we saw him in the movie “Catch me If you can” (2002) by Steven Spielberg, for which he received an Oscar nomination. Walken is again on track. This time as the tyrant Hatcher who keeps the people in check with his army. He has a nice monologue in which he tries to explain the concept of the tooth fairy to a group of soldiers who do not understand him anyway.

The female part in the film comes from the actress Rosario Dawson. She has appeared in multiple films including Spike Lee’s “25th Hour” (2002) and “Men in Black II” (2002). Dawson plays Mariana, a woman who is a bartender by day and a rebel leader by night. She has her own reasons for searching for the treasure with Beck and Travis. Seann William Scott, better known as Stifler from the “American Pie” series, plays Travis Walker.

Scott tries to make something fun out of his role but unfortunately fails. The humor in the film is very lackluster, but the action and the renditions of The Rock and Walken make the film a bit worth watching.