Reviewed by EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
Rocky hands the baton to The Rock in this brash, beefcake and occasionally slapstick outing.
Known as The Rundown in the US, the wrestler formerly known as Dwayne Johnson plays Beck, a bounty hunter who shows his demolition abilities early in the movie when
he takes on a table-full of gamblers to get back a debt. Soon he's despatched to the Amazon to bring home Travis Walker (Seann William Scott), his boss' son, who's gone south in search of his fortune, or anyone else's that he can get his hands on.
Naturally Beck and Travis will brawl with each other and team up to take down Hatcher (Christopher Walken), the big and rather nasty-smelling fish in a small pool who's made his money by ripping off the indigenous goldminers, and won't let Travis out of his clutches until he's found a valuable artefact. The female quota is represented by Mariana (Rosario Dawson), the bartender who might know more than she's letting on.
The actor currently known as the Governor of California, who's taken his shirt off in a fair few flicks with these sorts of storylines, makes a brief appearance.
On the DVD, the jungle colours look great and the sound quality is good. Extras include commentaries from director Peter Berg and his star, and from producers Marc Abraham and Kevin Misher, talking about the difficulties of shooting in the Hawaiian (not Brazilian) jungle.
There's reasonable entree to DVD-ROM content, plus features like Rumble in the Jungle, 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes explaining the stunts and action work in the film; The Amazon, Hawaii Style, 5 minutes about searching for a location; and Appetite For Destruction, 8 minutes behind-the-scenes of the major action sequence. Walken's fans might appreciate a few off-camera moments, The Rock's will relish 13 minutes of deleted scenes.
DVD, video rental April 6
