The Rundown (also known as Welcome to the Jungle) is a 2003 action comedy film starring Dwayne Johnson and Sean William Scott about a bounty hunter who must head for the Brazil to retrieve his employer's renegade son. It was directed by Peter Berg.
Plot
Beck (Johnson) is a professional bounty hunter who chooses not to use guns in his work due to a previous bad experience. He is hired by his boss, Billy Walker, to go to get Walker's son, Travis (Scott), from the Amazon jungle. Beck wants out of the business, and Walker agrees to make this his last job before Beck retires and opens his own restaurant. He heads down to the small South American town of "Helldorado" to find Travis and retrieve him from the mess he is in. The town is run by Hatcher (Christopher Walken) who owns the town and the people cannot afford not to work for him due to his monopoly.
Beck quickly captures Travis, but Travis escapes with the help of Hatcher. Travis is looking for an ancient golden artifact known as the Gato that, if the townspeople acquired it, would allow them to buy their freedom from Hatcher, which is why Hatcher wants the Gato and wants Travis free to find it for him. Travis flees into the jungle but is again captured by Beck, and after Travis fails to talk his way out of capture, they in turn run afoul of a group of rebels led by Mariana (Rosario Dawson), a town clerk with whom Travis is infatuated. Beck agrees to let Travis find the Gato for Mariana before he takes him home, and with the assistance of the rebels, the three find the location of the Gato and retrieve it. That night Hatcher and his men find the rebel camp and kill all the rebels save for Travis, Beck, and Mariana. Travis is eager to donate the artifact to a museum despite his greedy tendencies, but Mariana incapacitates Travis and Beck with a toxic, hallucinogenic fruit (Konlabos) and takes it, unwilling to allow Travis to keep it.
In the morning, Beck returns to the airstrip to take Travis home, but finds out that Mariana has been captured by Hatcher. Reluctant to leave after his agreement with Mariana, Beck returns to town with Travis. After learning of Beck's return, Hatcher locks down the town and sends his men out to kill him. After being bested by Hatcher's gunmen, Beck reluctantly takes up guns and reveals himself as a skilled marksman, effortlessly dispatching Hatcher's men and freeing Mariana. Hatcher confronts Beck amidst the townspeople and is shot when he attempts to attack Mariana. Agreeing to leave the town, Hatcher attempts to walk away but collapses dead. Beck and Travis return to Walker while Mariana and the townspeople are left the Gato. With Walker, Beck watches as he is paid and Travis is hit and ridiculed by his father. As a sort of toast to his last job, Beck feeds Walker and his men the same fictional[1] toxic fruit (konlobos...with a 'K') that Mariana fed to him, and they collapse in paralysis as an overjoyed Travis leaves with Beck, grateful but still irritating him. The film ends with Beck muttering "I'm gonna kill you" after Travis fakes a punch at him.
Cast
- Dwayne Johnson as Beck
- Seann William Scott as Travis Alfred Walker
- Rosario Dawson as Mariana
- Christopher Walken as Cornelius Bernard Hatcher
- Ewen Bremner as Declan
- Jon Gries as Harvey
- Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Manito
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Himself (Uncredited Cameo)
Reception
The Rundown was warmly received by both critics and moviegoers. The film holds a "fresh" 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. This was the first WWE Film to ever be able to be produced outside of production.
Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4, saying "The jungle locations give the film a texture and beauty that underlines the outsized characters."
Despite the positive acclaim, the modest box office take for the film makes the likelihood of a sequel possible but not entirely likely. Director Peter Berg has expressed interest in making a sequel to the film but notes that "no one can ever get motivated and focused enough to do it."[1]
Production Notes
- The film's working titles were Helldorado and Welcome to the Jungle, both of which are referenced in the film. After arriving in the Amazon, Beck passes a sign that reads "Helldorado", and in the jungle, Travis says "Welcome to the jungle!" It kept the title Welcome to the Jungle in some territories, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Korea, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France (as Bienvenue dans la jungle), Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Brazil (as Bem Vindo à Selva), and Poland (as Witajcie w Dżungli). In Mexico and Spain, the film is known as El Tesoro del Amazonas ("The Treasure of the Amazon") and in Russia as Сокровища Ðмазонки ("The Treasures of the Amazon").
- The film was planned to be shot in the Amazon, but after the crew got robbed in the jungle, they decided to shoot it in Hawaii instead.
- The football clips shown when Beck is describing the offensive linemen in the club are not NFL clips, but rather clips from Vince McMahon's XFL.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo at the start of the film. The Rock's character is walking into a nightclub about to confront a group of professional football players. Schwarzenegger passes by and says to The Rock, "Have fun". Arnold Schwarzenegger was campaigning in the California gubernatorial election during the filming of the film.
- During the fight with the football players, The Rock delivers a Rock Bottom to one of the players, his finishing move as a wrestler.
- The name of the fish Beck calls a "penis-eating minnow" is the candirú.
- Baboons are Old World monkeys and are native to Africa, not the Amazon.
- The poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" is referenced multiple times, both quoted by Declan and by the tattoos on the insides of Beck's arms.
- Recently The Rock's character "Beck" was named 6 out of 10 best movie bounty hunters by Empire Magazine.
- There are six references to the films of Akira Kurosawa in the film, but they are very subtely done.
- A special feature on the DVD is called "Appetite for Destruction". Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction features the song "Welcome to the Jungle", the original title of the film.
- Declan enters into the town while playing a Scottish tune called "Highland Laddie". When it shows him strike up again, his fingers are not in sync with the playing or in any actual note position.
- The film was originally shot and conceived with an "R" rating in mind. Most original scenes (i.e., the shootings, the beatings, etc.) were at first bloodier and more brutal. It was then decided to cut the film back to PG-13 for more commercial reasons. It is unknown if an unrated version will ever be released.
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The Rundown A Pretty Good Action Adventure
The Rundown is a pretty good action adventure with equally impressive
tburke85 from United States - 12 June 2009performances by Dwayne Johnson and Seann William Scott. Director Peter
Berg has done a solid job of making this movie about a mob enforcer who
goes to the Amazon to bring back his boss' son but gets into far more
than he bargained for while on a search for a legendary treasure.
Dwyane Johnson turns in a good performance as Beck an aspiring chef who
takes this last job to bring back the son of his boss. Johnson's very
believable as the hero especially in the action/fight sequences no
matter how over the top some of them get in the movie. Sean William
Scott is just as good as the boss' estranged son Travis who's after a
legendary treasure thats somewhere in the Amazon forest. Scott bring
much comic relief to the movie as he usually does which balances well
between the action, drama, and suspense. The rest of the cast are solid
in their roles including Rosario Dawson, Christopher Walken, Ewen
Bremner, and Jon Gries but they're not given much to do. There's also a
blink and you missed it cameo by a certain governor I'm sure everyone
has heard about. The action/fight sequences are well executed but some
of them get unrealistic at times which isn't necessarily a bad thing it
just makes you shake your heard saying, "yea right I don't care how
tough you are" once and a while but other than that they're still
intense and well paced. Overall despite some flaws The Rundown is still
an entertaining action adventure comedy thats definitely worth seeing
because of the impressive performances by Johnson and Scott.
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