The Rock hits the big screen again, and can we please begin calling him Dwayne Johnson? I am so tired of seeing the WWE mentioned in the credits along with Vince McMahon getting paid for the use of the name “The Rock”.
Johnson made his presence felt in last year’s hit The Rundown and he is back again, this time with a big stick.
In Walking Tall he plays Chris Vaughn, a retired soldier returning home to make a new life for himself, only to discover that the town he once knew has changed dramatically. A high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed down the one-time prosperous lumber mill and is now the owner of a local casino, which deals in more than gambling, if you know what I mean (wink, wink, sniff, sniff).
Needless to say this doesn’t sit well with the old soldier and it becomes time to make some changes once his nephew is hospitalized after a bout with crystal meth.
Unfortunately, once the hell-bent fury begins the movie seems to end. Through a series of mis-timed action sequences and all-to-quick of an ending Walking Tall never really hits a climax and never really takes advantage of the star power it has.
Johnny Knoxville plays Chris Vaughn’s old pal Ray Templeton and carries himself very well in a part made perfect for him, but the writing never seems to take advantage of Knoxville’s potential or Johnson’s charm.
The charisma and personality that we got from The Rundown just isn’t here and several scenes in the movie almost turn it into one big joke, primarily a courtroom scene which I won’t go heavily into detail. Also, while people cheered when Vaughn first picked up the “big stick” it quickly became a silly homage to the original Walking Tall film.
While this film may end up a bust, it will certainly not be the last we here from Dwayne Johnson, and hopefully Knoxville will also get another chance in a film.
