It might seem impossible when we literally and figuratively have a star the size of Dwayne Johnson, that you could miss a movie of his or see it and forget about it. The man is a force, he’s an icon, and he has a popular NBC show about his early life titled Young Rock and he’s only 49! What is this show about? Oh nothing, it just centers on his 2032 Presidential Run. The man is a bonafide superstar! He’s a titan in the film industry and The Rock is clearly one of biggest actors in the United States who’s legitimately approaching National Treasure status.
At the same time the man has done a lot of movies. He may not do as many as he once did, as The Rock has become somewhat more choosy in the projects he does. In fact, he’s gone from being called The Rock, to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to now simply, Dwayne Johnson on movie one-sheets. This metamorphosis no doubt continues with him slowing down his acting choices, and probably doing something that will attempt to garner him an Academy Award. To anybody who thinks him winning a gold statue is a remote possibility, you were probably the same people that scoffed at him having an acting career when he did The Mummy Returns. Lets not forget that this guy was in one of the cultist indie films of the early 2000’s in Southland Tales. Dwayne Johnson isn’t afraid to take chances. The problem is that, like Kevin Hart, he’s so big that he sort of can’t just do anything without the project becoming a “Dwayne Johnson” movie. As a result of this, we present you “15 The Rock Movies You Slept On Or Totally Forgot About.”
Tooth Fairy
Everybody loves seeing big guys get a comeuppance and they really love it when the big guy in question is a bad guy. As Derek, a tough, minor-league hockey player he’s known as “The Tooth Fairy” for removing said item from other player’s mouths. When Derek is rude to a young boy he finds himself serving a sentence as the real Tooth Fairy. As usually happens in movies like this, Derek learns the errors of his ways and ultimately finds redemption as a better person. The Rock is very good in this role as it forces him to play against all the ideas and preconceptions that we have of “big men”. That might be this actors most endearing quality, he’s not afraid to shake the foundation of the cathedral’s that are his entire being.
Snitch
With a cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal (aka The Punisher), Barry Pepper, and The Rock, how did anybody miss this movie? The story features The Rock as John Matthews, a man who wants to help his son when he’s sent up on drug charges and is handed a very lengthy prison sentence. So John goes undercover, after making a deal with the DEA, and offers up many arrests in the hopes of exonerating and getting his son out of his predicament. Okay, there’s a lot to dismiss in this logic stretching film even if it does feature a very solid cast. It just seems pretty implausible that a man like John Matthews would be able to do the work he does for the DEA. On top of that, it also doesn’t seem believable that a U.S. Attorney (Sarandon) would condone it. However, does any of that really matter? The Rock kicks some major ass in this film and that actually is unforgettable.
Hercules
Directed by Brett Ratner Hercules is a fairly thoughtful film that, if nothing else, features a cast that seems more akin to 1990s Miramax Films and not the director who did Rush Hour. The Rock (billed as Dwayne Johnson) plays the title role of a man who has suffered his whole life as the ill-fated son of Zeus. John Hurt (The Elephant Man, and Alien) plays a Lord who enlists Hercules to train a band of similarly tortured souls into an army. In doing this (and this is where the more soulful moments happen) Hercules has to come to terms with who he is, what he’s become, and the life he’s lived up this point. The question is can he continue to be this way or is there room for change? This is a pretty heady stuff and maybe it’s part of the reason why we don’t necessarily remember that The Rock did this film. Aided by Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes, and Rufus Sewell, Hercules is actually a click up from the sword and sandal films of this ilk.
Pain & Gain
One look at the title and it’s easy to see why one might not want to remember this film (Rock or not) at all. This Michael Bay, testosterone fueled romp features The Rock, Mark Wahlberg, and Anthony Mackie as 3 body builders attempting to “get good” by kidnapping and extorting people with a lot more money than them. As you can imagine, this plan (and it can only loosely be called that) doesn’t go the way our three leads expect it will, and half the fun is watching their big ideas blow up in their faces. While this is slightly more of a Mark Wahlberg movie than it is a Dwayne Johnson film, it features The Rock just as extensively. Pain & Gain certainly isn’t The Rock’s worst movie. It made close to $90 million worldwide and it certainly made money for somebody. I’m sure that the people behind it hoped that it would be another Bad Boys. However, based on the title alone those prospects were doomed, and it’s probably why we maybe don’t think about Pain & Gain as often as we should.
Empire State
Director Dito Montiel is a New York guy through and through whose other films bleed the various realities of the city. From A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Fighting, teaming up with The Rock seemed like a great way for Dito and the actor to get something out of the relationship. The Rock got to work with an up and coming auteur, and Dito raised his directing profile even higher by hitching himself to The Rock’s star. Empire State is a really good film. This tale of small time crooks trying to outmaneuver The Rock is well put together. The problem lies in the fact that The Rock is such a star that he sort of gets lost in this film. Everybody does credible work, the acting and action scenes are on point, this is just one of those movies that never gets to that special place that we think of it as a Rock movie.
The Game Plan
This is another one of those movies where we see The Rock as a character who thinks he has everything, but doesn’t realize how full his life can actually be. All of this changes when he realizes that he has an 8 year old daughter from a long over relationship. As you can guess, The Rock is not a good parent but soon starts to be, and that’s when the problems begin because there are people that don’t want him to have custody of his child. With a supporting cast that includes Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Pettis (who is really good for being so young and for this being her first film), Roselyn Sanchez, and Morris Chestnut, this is clearly a film for The Rock. It is mean to showcase his dramatic and comedic skills of which there are many. The Game Plan isn’t a forgettable film so much as it makes you remember the other films featuring The Rock that you know better.
Race to Witch Mountain
Hopes were high for this adventure film in which The Rock played a different kind of role. It was a remake of the movie from 1975 that originally starred Ray Milland, Eddie Albert and Donald Pleasence. In fact, this movie was also remade in 1995 with a young Elisabeth Moss as one of the orphans with special powers. Race to Witch Mountain sees The Rock as a cab driver who tries to help two siblings (Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb) with special powers, as they are pursued by an evil Ciaran Hands (does he ever play any other sort of role?), and a being from outer-space who wants to see them dead. As you can imagine, The Rock does his fair share of skull cracking along the way, as he tries to keep the brother and sister duo safe and stop an invasion on earth. Disney certainly packed a lot into this story, but overall Race to Witch Mountain is a fun film that shows us yet another layer of The Rock. I’m not sure that the other films were done better, there’s just something about this film that ultimately feels a tad too convoluted.
Walking Tall
This fairly well done remake from 2004 features The Rock as a former soldier who comes home and finds out that home isn’t really home anymore. There’s a mob foothold, officers of the law aren’t doing their jobs, and just about everything else you wouldn’t want in a place that is filled with childhood memories. So what does The Rock do? He leaves town and tries his luck elsewhere. I’m kidding. He completely kicks the butts of everybody trying to do bad, and in the process he turns his town around. Honestly, this is a solid film and the reason why we don’t talk more about it (even though The Rock had an assist from Johnny Knoxville) is because it isn’t good enough to make us think that it is any more special than the material from whence it came. The Rock is good and he plays the main character, Chris Vaughn, with an earnestness and integrity that is in keeping with characters of this type in cinema. It also did close to $60 million at the box office so while we may not necessarily have seen or remember this film, we do know that The Rock has always been cash cow from the start.
Gridiron Gang
The third semi-remake on this list (might remakes be the things that ultimately make a movie or even a good performance forgettable?), Gridiron Gang sees The Rock in a role that really seems to suit his personality. Honestly, unless the guy is a total sham (and all signs point to the notion that he is not), Gridiron Gang is the kind of role that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was born to play. He plays Sean Porter, a counselor at the Kilpatrick Juvenile Detention Center. Realizing that the people there need something more, The Rock starts a football program that ends up benefiting everybody. Okay, before you roll your eyes at the saccharine nature of the Gridiron Gang, it’s pretty sad when we can’t root for a film that wears its heart on its sleeve as overtly as this one. Also, to be fair, this film isn’t technically a remake. There was a documentary on the real Kilpatrick Football team that was hosted by the great Louis Gossett, Jr.. It came out in 1993 and is actually featured in the end credits of the 2006 film.
The Rundown
In an attempt to merge the worlds of American Pie and, well, The Rock… we get The Rundown. Okay, that is a gross over-simplification of what this movie is but it helps to give you a nice jumping off point. The Rock plays a bounty hunter who wants to start a restaurant so he takes a job in the Amazon. The task is to retrieve his boss’s son (Seann William Scott) but this soon puts them on the radar of everybody who may want to see them meet a nefarious end. Toss in the fact that there’s a precious artifact to be had, and that’s also wanted by a mean tycoon (Christopher Walken), and you soon see plot thicken and the attendant troubles that ensue. The Rundown is one of those movies that’s confounding. It was made for $85 million and worldwide it basically just broke even. Why wasn’t this a bigger film? Why didn’t it go over better with audiences? These are questions that will forever be open to conjecture. One thing is certain, while it may not be the most memorable of The Rock films, it’s a testament to his staying power that a not so successful film in no way effected his bankability.
DOOM
This is one of those films that seems like a slam dunk. First off, it was a based on an extremely popular video game. Secondly, one look at the first-person shooter, explosion laden one-sheet and it’s apparent that there was going to be a lot of CGI employed in the proceedings. Lastly, but certainly not least, DOOM features The Rock in the role of Sarge. What’s the story of this film? Does it even matter? Essentially, Sarge and his team of Space Marines are employed to check out just what in the universe is going on at a space outpost on Mars. When they get there the marines are in for more than they bargained for when they discover that they are up against foes who have been enhanced through science. As you can imagine, carnage ensues and while this is a fun tale, there’s something about translating a video-game like DOOM that gets lost in the translation. This film actually doesn’t seem like it was a loss leader in the money department. So it’s not really a movie people shunned even if it didn’t become a “Rock Vehicle.” At the same time, it doesn’t seem like a sequel was merited. However, DOOM continues on as printing money franchise with new universes for the game being developed as we speak.
Baywatch
This film isn’t a remake of the popular 80s, 90s and early 2000s show (I didn’t realize it went THAT long!) so much as it’s a reboot. Matt Brody (Zac Efron) is a former Olympian who has fallen on hard times. When he’s given community service as a lifeguard, he’s placed under the watchful eye of Mitch Buchannon (The Rock). These two find themselves at odds until people start mysteriously dying on the beach. Then it’s up to these two lifeguards to really become life savers. Baywatchis a fun film and the fact that it made close to $200 million worldwide (on a budget of $69 million) means a lot of people didn’t sleep on or forget that The Rock was in this movie. So why is it on this list? It seems like with these two stars headlining, ultimately, Baywatch should’ve done a lot better. Considering that just about everything The Rock touches turns to gold, this film didn’t sparkle the way that many hoped it would.
San Andreas
You gotta love a disaster movie centered on an earthquake in California where the hero (The Rock of course), takes his wife clear through the state in order to rescue their daughter. San Andreas is pure spectacle and features The Rock in a grand performance as an everyman who is up against nature. Thankfully, there are no CGI scenes of the San Andreas fault line ripping open and then The Rock somehow putting it together again. This is actually a highly entertaining film that does its best to get the science right about what might happen if there was an earthquake of this magnitude on the west coast. There’s nothing forgettable at all about this film, it just might be one of those The Rock movies where people know he’s going to be the good guy, and that ultimately in the end things will work themselves out. So while you may have missed it, or maybe {@@@[email protected]@@}{@@@[email protected]@@}forget about it after you saw it, make no mistake, The Rock does everything in his power to beat back a disaster as much as one person can.
Skyscraper
The scene from the trailer that makes this movie unforgettable is the one where The Rock, who plays a character with a prosthetic leg, jumps off a building and then manages not to fall to his death because said leg gets caught on something. Yes, Skyscraper is that movie. This is basically Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno and even The Rock seems to be in on the joke. As Will Sawyer, he is a family who will stop at nothing to rescue his family from the burning building they are in Hong Kong. The sad thing is that people think Will is responsible for the tower being on fire, but it’s actually others with nefarious motives. The Rock gives a grand performance in this film and is as believable as one might expect in a role like this. As you can guess there is a lot of action, a lot of death (and physics) defying moments, and yet, we can just file this among the other The Rock films that we know he did, we know exist, but may not have seen.
Rampage
Lets describe this one as The Rock trying to save the life of George, a gorilla, who is his friend. Please read that description again and know that in no way has the plot summary put forth been embellished. The Rock plays the role of Davis, a Primatologist who tries to save George’s life when he is turned into a destruction machine. The CGI in Rampage is pretty solid and it’s not hard to believe that The Rock has a relationship with this animal. Their bond on screen is strong and that makes Rampage one of those films that, while you may not have seen it, hopefully reading “15 The Rock Movies You Slept On Or Totally Forgot About” will make you go back and fix the error of your ways.
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