When Dwayne Johnson wrestled as The Rock, I first did not like him because he went against Stone Cold Steve Austin. But as the WWE wrote his character to be a villain/hero, he grew to be one of my favorite wrestlers ever.
When I found out he was Samoan and African American, it further cemented that because he was a multicultural wrestler that was at the top of a white majority industry.
When I saw him as a Scorpion King monster in The Mummy 2, I was excited but also bummed that he was… a villain once more. However, his showing stole enough minutes to get him his own movie—a prequel to how he became the Scorpion monster we saw.
https://youtu.be/b7nmYiZ6cAg?si=RzsMd5oHTPDXUU21
After he blew up with the Scorpion King, other scripts wanted his name, and so a sequel to the Scorpion King never happened.
Walking Tall is a favorite of mine as well, but when he joined The Fast and the Furious series, that’s when Dwayne Johnson skyrocketed. The way he played Hobbs was truly badass. It was so cool that Vin Diesel got jealous.
https://youtu.be/QQAxauwJVxI?si=g7cQKJ7yexzc_Wv3
His performance in Jumanji was another fun acting adventure, as he acted like a teenager in a hero’s body; Dwayne Johnson was funny.
https://youtu.be/2QKg5SZ_35I?si=CCVKszzHZU-oWM8w
But after this, Dwayne Johnson stopped acting and was just…in movies.
Each role he took on just seemed the same character—a shade of himself mixed with pieces of The Rock. Watching became so boring. It was sad to see. Jungle Cruise was horrible; his Netflix movie with Chris Evans was horrible; and Red One was horrible. It was like Dwayne Johnson believed his face was enough to entertain. Well, his box office numbers show that that is not true for him or any actor. If you want to make money, you need to have a good movie and superb acting, which is why The Rock’s upcoming movie The Smashing Machine is a breath of fresh air and renewed excitement.
https://youtu.be/W1NgaREzEqU?si=UGs7R8vIOfeZxl7N
Underneath the stereotypical features of an action hero lies a true actor. After all, wrestling is acting. Dwayne Johnson can act when he wants to, and when he acts, that’s when Dwayne Johnson is entertaining.
From some of his recent interviews, it appears that Dwayne Johnson has realized some of this himself.
His pick of films was just the same topic, and his acting was like factory-made meat patties. But with this film, he is not only using prosthetics; it is drama and imperfect. Dwayne will be portraying the ups and downs of life through the eyes of another. The movie is gritty and not about being a hero. It will be about surviving life. And this, I believe, will light a fire up under his candy ass for future projects.
