Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsonhas made a Hollywood career out of playing muscle-bound action heroes, and many of the wrestler-turned-actor’s movies take place in the jungle. After setting the world ablaze as his charismatic in-ring alter-ego, The Rock, Johnson soon traveled to Tinseltown, where he began a meteoric rise as a movie star. When properly cast, Johnson has a unique talent for playing the hero, and he is a convincing protagonist when fighting dastardly foes. Now a multimedia megastar, The Rock’s movies are really just a vessel for his amazing onscreen personality.
Typically sticking within the action or comedy genres, The Rock’s heroes are usually wise-cracking and tough, and he is one of the rare examples of awrestler who can actually actonscreen. However, there isn’t usually a lot of variety, and he is known for appearing in movies that check the same boxes. Naturally, The Rock’s action outings can be somewhat repetitive, but his films that take place in the jungle manage to avoid being boring. Action stars usually find the gimmick that best defines their career, and the jungle is the perfect setting for The Rock’s action movies.
Dwayne Johnson Has Appeared In 6 Movies Set In The Jungle
The Rock Has Found A Formula That Works
Action films aren’t always known for pushing the boundaries of cinema, and a touch of repetitiveness is often what keeps audiences coming back for installment after installment in a long-running series. The Rock has had a rather diverse filmography of action and action comedies, buthe has come back to the jungle on six occasionsthus far. Often, the films themselves were somewhat varied, though they shared a setting. Going all the way back to 2003’sThe Rundown, one of The Rock’s earliest starring roles saw him play a bounty hunter who traverses the jungle in search of his prey.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and its sequel poked a little fun at the classic jungle adventure films of the past
It would take him a decade to return to the subgenre, butthe 2010s would include The Rock’s busiest Hollywood period. 2012’sJourney 2: The Mysterious Islanddrew inspiration from the book by Jules Verne, and saw Rocky land on the titular island along with several other fish-out-of-water characters.Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and its sequel poked a little fun at the classic jungle adventure films of the past, and allowedThe Rock to play one of his best characters.Dr. Xander Braveheart is almost a parody of action hero characters, and Johnson played the tongue-in-cheek role to perfection.
A third modernJumanjifilm is currently in development.
The Netflix film,Red Notice, was a globetrotting adventure, and The Rock and his co-stars would naturally find themselves in the jungles of Argentina for a time. However,it would be 2021’sThe Jungle Cruisethat would finally cement The Rock as the master of the modern jungle adventurestory. Based on the Disney ride of the same name, the live-action films expanded the lore of the attraction and cast The Rock as a salty boat captain. Besides allowing him to show off his action chops, Johnson’s Frank Wolff has a bit more depth than his usual heroic parts.
2021
62%
37%
2019
72%
2017
77%
2012
45%
2003
69%
Dwayne Johnson Has Mastered The “Jungle Action” Subgenre
The Proof Is On The Screen, The Rock & The Jungle Are A Perfect Combo
The adage “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” is perfectly applied to the action genre, and The Rock’s consistent success is a perfect example. The Rock is a box office gold mine, andhis jungle-based movies have also fared quite well both financially and critically. Though there are naturally peaks and valleys in the actor’s filmography, his jungle adventure movies have consistently scored well, and were mostly all box office successes.Red Noticewas released via streaming, andJungle Cruisewas hampered by an inflated budget that made box office success nearly impossible.
However, theJumanjifilms both grossed nearly a billion dollars, and that’s particularly telling. The jungle has long been a source of mystery and excitement, andThe Rock’s movies set within the jungle hearken back to an earlier period of Hollywood cinema. Older movies were often larger-than-life, and there was a curiosity about the world that has since been reduced by instantaneous access to information via the internet. TheJumanjimovies are nearly parodies of those earlier adventure films, but they still contain enough of the wonder of their predecessors to capture some of that magic as well.
Modern action films take the easy way out and are often set in urban environments, which allows for cheaper production. However, it introduces an element of sameness, and it is hard to differentiate one film from another. A movie set in the jungle has instant production value because the location is vibrant and unique. Even if the rest of the film is lackluster or uninteresting,it’s almost always intriguing to see heroes traverse the dense foliagein search of adventure.Dwayne Johnsonis the perfect protagonist for those stories because he hearkens back to earlier eras of action stars.
