I went and saw a free pre-screening of this movie last night and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It was so terrible. Since it hasn't been released yet, I will include no spoilers. A friend invited me and it was free, and the only thing I knew was it had The Rock in it, so I figured why not. They searched everyone with a metal-detecting wand and reminded us that taping the showing would be illegal -- as if someone would want a copy of this thing. I guess the reason why I keep thinking about the movie and am now posting on it (though it is doubtful anyone else has even seen it) is that I cannot figure out who this movie was made for. The Rock's character is supposed to be a blue-collar, take-charge hero who drives out the evil forces in his home-town. In reality, he's a violent psychopath anarchist who should be serving numerous consecutive terms in prison (and not even in a cool gangsta kind of way either). And, I'm wondering, is there some segment of our society that can sympathize with this protagonist? If you've seen it and liked, please tell me why. If you want to see it, please tell me why. I just can't understand it. Does it espouse values common in the WWE demographic? Apparently, this is a remake of a 1973 movie by the same name. I just read a review of that one, and it seemed to suffer from the same psychosis. The other thing about the movie that gets to me is that the direction, acting, cinematography and other production-value stuff was okay. Not good, but professionally done and whatnot. But, the writing is absolutely horrendous. Besides the problem of having an unjustified protagonist, the movie is replete with ridiculous plot points (I'm not talking here about ridiculous action sequences(which you would expect), but things like ridiculous court scenes). The screenwriter seems to have an intellect of a 12 year old. How can the other professionals involved in this movie debase themselves by working with such a terrible script? As it turns out, there are 4 guys with writing credits on this terrible movie. None have done anything great, but they've had better success before. I know a guy who is trying to make it as a screenwriter and it breaks my heart to see Walking Tall be given millions of dollars when my friend's writing looks like utter genius in comparison. So, I'm just astounded that something like this was made and will actually be released in theaters. If someone is interested in this movie, or saw and liked the original, please explain it to me. I am confounded.
havent seen it, don;t want to see it, but hollywood has been making stuff like this for years, and the Rock is a pretty big marketing machine. put the plot aside, intelligence is not considered for the target demographic. The movie is for people who like violence, probably watch WWF, are teenagers (here is where an R(?) movie is aimed at young'uns). easy money right there, hitting your largest movie going group, and people who are most likely to see a movie twice. The Rock is excellent as a person to market because of his ambiguous race, he could be any race and therefore is easier to identify with. as far as the psychopath, anarchist hero, that is your modern day, muscle head hero, someone who transgresses the power of everyone else. think pitch black, a slew of arnold movies. ever since jeanclaude van damme, heroes with morals and are compliant with rules are considered pansy-asses. i just want to conclude to say that you should be glad that you arent the type of person this movie is marketed to. You should not consider this movie as art, as it is not on the same line as your friend's work. Movies are a lot like the things that we put on our wall. a painting that someone spent countless hours to make and is a contribution to the human race is less likely to be on someones wall than say, a Matrix poster or one of Blink 182, which some guy photoshopped in an hour.
When I saw the preview for this movie, i thought to myself, "that must be very VERY loosely based on a true story." Why would a casino sell drugs to the Rock's brother or do anything else illegal? It's a casino, a money-making machine. Looked worse than the Rundown, which was pretty darned bad.
This is inspired by a true story, the other movie is based on a true story. The real guy this is about, I can't remember his name, fought against organized crime in his home county and it cost him big time. He got ambushed while with his wife one night and they killed her and nearly killed him. He ended up dying in a car accident, but the original movie makes it seem like somebody cut his brake line.
You know, it's almost as if Hollywood has just given up. Every movie that comes out is either: -Remake of a movie -Remake of a comic book -Remake of a TV show -"Action/Adventure" ie. all style, no substance -Two hour hip-hop video Nothing even remotely original. This is why I don't go to the movies anymore.
Wow, I cant believe there is alot of people that is not interested in this movie. When I first saw the trailer, I couldnt wait for this movie to come out. The Rundown was "ok" probably because I dont like the whole jungle setting. I enjoyed the beginning where he was kicking everybody's ass in the club. But this looks like a great movie to me. I guess I am just a sucker for good trailers.
The first time I saw the preview, I knew it was "Walking Tall" because I remember my parent's watching the 70's version. I am pretty fired up about it. Granted, I watch a movie purely for entertainment value...not to find a great plot, underlying theme, or cinematic art.
About the real guy the movie is "based" on, I found this: http://www.sheriffbufordpusser.com/ and: http://www.legendarysheriff.com/main.htm As a movie based on a true story, it isn't really discernible at all. There basically isn't much of anything in common between the movie and what I'm reading at these sites. Nyquil, I know what you mean, but even as a musclehead movie, it isn't very good. It's PG-13, so I suppose they're hoping to lure in some pubescent males. I'd like to think that even at 13, I was too smart to accept such a poor vehicle to deliver the desired skin & violence. Dave2000, when you do see this movie, please revive this thread and tell me what you thought of it. I'm hoping perhaps you've been misled by a very ingenious trailer (which I haven't seen) and won't actually like the movie. But, if you do like it, I'd very much like to know how we could sympathize with this vigilante.
Sorry to double-post, but Falcons Talon, please don't think I'm trying to hold this movie to an unreasonable standard. I knew it'd be bad going in and recalibrated the meter to accomodate it. I went in with a Steven Segal state of mind and they still managed to come up short.
i realize this will sound closed-minded...but if it has the Rock in it, chances are i won't be seeing it.
2 hour hip hop video... haha. well i was gonna see never die alone. and also walking tall, because... well i see everything. but i was gonna see walking tall first. here's why: -- I've liked all of the Rock's action movies. People mostly hated the Scorpion King, but you know I really like the Fantasy genre, and the action was cool. The Rundown was very entertaining, humor interspersed with good action. -- A movie doesn't have to make sense for me to like it. The hero or plot line doesn't need to be justified. An example I can think of was the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen... there was so much factual fallacy with that movie, but you know I took it for what it was worth and enjoyed it.
It makes more sense for the Rock to be Gov of Florida. I think he makes his home in Miami. Your Gov, Dwayne.
21 Grams, Mystic River, Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Northfork, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc.
