Welcome to the Jungle Movie Review:


This is one of those loud, stupid action comedies that's almost enjoyable despite itself. Beck (The Rock) is a bounty hunter who can get his hands on anything or anyone and refuses to take no for an answer. But what he really wants to do is open a restaurant, and this One Last Job is his way out of the criminal underworld. The trick is that his target is the hot-headed Travis (Scott), who's on the trail of a priceless artefact in the jungles of Brazil, where the quirky expat Hatcher (Walken) runs a hellish gold mine. Before taking Travis back home, Beck agrees to help him and his feisty local girlfriend (Dawson) find the trinket and get even with Hatcher. As you do.

No the preposterous plot doesn't make a bit of sense. Not a single character behaves with any logic at all, but at least they're colourful and energetic enough to keep our interest. The film also looks all wrong; if you know anything about the Amazon (I grew up in South America so I have firsthand experience) you can immediately tell that not a single frame of film was shot there. It's quite obviously Los Angeles and Hawaii, which the credits confirmed. In other words, this film is utterly fake on every level! That said, The Rock proves that he's a decent action hero and Scott is, as usual, a funny comic foil. It's up to the gifted Dawson and bizarre Walken to add a bit more depth and interest. At least both the script and direction have a warped and vicious sense of humour, which isn't a surprise from the director of Very Bad Things. Some of the digital effects are badly overdone and the fight choreography is, frankly, insane ("spinning Tarzan jujitsu!"). But it's still rather good fun, in a deeply annoying sort of way.

Rich Cline

Mob retrieval expert Beck (The Rock) has to do one last job before he is square and can be out of the business for good. His boss Walker (Lucking) wants him to go down into the Brazilian rainforest and find his son Travis (Scott). Sounds easy enough but he didn’t count on the jungle, its animals, the rebels who dwell in it and a local mobster called Hatcher (Walken) who owns the area.

The Rock steps up again to claim the action star crown from the kings of the 80s and early 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone but does ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ have what it takes to let him claim that prize? The answer is no but he does take a giant leap forward towards it.

The ex-wrestling superstar is the best hope for all those fans of muscle-bound action stars that speak little dialogue but can single-handedly take an entire army on their own without even breaking sweat. However, the Rock has something Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and the rest of them never had, the ability to deliver dialogue. This is a man who can actually act and doesn’t just rely on screen presence and body mass alone, even though he has them in abundance. All he needs is a franchise hit like a Rocky or Terminator to establish him but Welcome to the Jungle is not that film.

This doesn’t make this a bad movie, as it is far from it. The action is first rate as The Rock shows what he can do in some great scenes. The two bar fights are extremely well choreographed and the climatic rumble is first rate. The film also has its share of comedic moments thanks to Seann William Scott. The comic actor moves again into the action genre but injects his own unique humour into the mix. He seems to suit both comedy and action really well and is carving out quite a niche for himself. The mismatched pair works well together, creating good chemistry between the characters.

The pair has good support to accompany them. Villain supremo Christopher Walken gives another fine turn as the South American gold baron Hatcher. The man is a master as these types of roles, suitably over the top and very sinister. Rosario Dawson continues to make a name for herself and proves again that she is not just an extremely pretty face. Ewen Bremner is also good as a barely legible Scottish pilot who provides some comic interludes.

While not setting any new standards in the genre, Welcome to the Jungle (or The Rundown as it was known in the US) is a good, fun action flick that is entertaining throughout but don’t expect it to live long in the memory after the final credits roll.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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