Hope arrives for Beck when he is sent to South America to retrieve son Travis (Sean William Scott) who has caused issues for his father and must return to make amends. Beck is promised $250,000 and a complete erasure of his debt upon completion of the assignment. With the chance to at last open his restaurant in sight, Beck arrives in El Dorado and locates in a mining town that is run with an iron fist by a man named Hatcher (Christopher Walken), and his army of goons.

      Beck is allowed to take Travis home for a fee but things do not go as planned, as Beck and Travis seem find themselves at odds with Hatcher and running for their lives into the dense jungles.

      An interesting subplot to the film has Travis looking for a valuable artifact known as El Gato that has great interest to a local lady named Mariana (Rosario Dawson), who sees the idol as a chance to release the towns people from the control of Hatcher who also covets the artifact for his own needs. What follows are some humorous and segments as Beck and Travis verbally and physically spar with one another, rebels and over amorous monkeys as they attempt to avoid Hatcher and reach the airfield.

      What makes "The Rundown" work is the solid chemistry between The Rock and Scott who seem to be having a great time making the film. The action in the film is fun and blends in well with the humor without being forced. Walken is good as the comedic yet evil Hatcher and gets the majority of the films best lines. Yes the story is not that deep but director Peter Berg keeps things moving at a steady pace and makes "The Rundown" a pleasant surprise and should establish The Rock firmly as an action star to contend with.

     -- Gareth Von Kallenbache ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

     Mike ( 3 out of 4 pops )

     "The Rundown" turned out to be pretty much what I had expected from this movie.  It was a lot of fun to watch plus who can refuse to watch a Christopher Walken performance.  The Rock and Sean William Scott make one of the better action/comedy duos that I have seen for a long time.  This movie has everything that a movie of this type should have.  There are lots of original, kinetic action scenes without the use of a bunch of computer effects. And there are lots of good laughs scattered throughout the flick.  It looks like on the basis of this one movie that the Rock is going to prove me wrong and become a movie action star.  Go load up on plenty of popcorn and enjoy watching this one.

      Billy Ray ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      This was a great film.  I was entertained from beginning to end, and what else can you really ask for?  The Rock proves that he is, indeed, a fine actor; Sean William Scott is less annoying than usual (not to mention dead sexy); and, Christopher Walken delivers his funniest speech to date (the one about the Tooth Fairy and the burglars).  The action sequences and stunts are top notch, the comic delivery is perfectly timed, and I laughed more times than not.  And, anytime a film can give Ernie Reyes, Jr. a comeback, they automatically receive some extra credit.  Peter Berg misfired big time with his first film, "Very Bad Things", but has hit the nail on the head with "The Rundown".  Very, very entertaining.  A near perfect action film.

      Matt ( 1 1/2 out of 4 pops )

           I don't know why the hell people are coming up with comparisons to such buddy action flicks like "48 Hours" and "Lethal Weapon."  "The Rundown" is not, and I repeat NOT, even in the same ballpark!  Now, I liked "The Scorpion King" a lot more than I expected, and I really do feel that The Rock has the potential to be a big-time action star.  Maybe he can use a few more acting lessons, but the point is he CAN act.  That's more than I can say for Vin Diesel, who can't make a facial expression if his life depended on it.  I enjoyed the opening scene of this movie, which contains the scenario of the hero faced with opponents twice his size.  Afterwards, the film falls completely flat.  No original ideas whatsoever.  Each character is developed with about 1 minute of exposition.  The opening scene has The Rock listening to a radio show giving instructions on a recipe, and we briefly see him scribble it down.  So that's supposed to show the audience why he's interested in the restaurant business.  I usually like Christopher Walken, and I hate to admit this, but his performance in this movie is incredibly hammy.  Then again, maybe it was just out of embarrassment, and if that's the case I don't blame him.  Sean William Scott is one of the most annoying sidekicks I've ever seen in the history of buddy flicks!  After watching this movie and "American Wedding," I think I'm gonna swear off seeing another movie with Sean William Scott in a starring or co-starring role.  When he did that whole "thunder/lightning" shtick, I wanted to put my fist through the screen!  He's no Eddie Murphy, that's for sure!  There's even a purely tasteless and unoriginal gag where Sean is handcuffed and has to pee, so he asks The Rock to unzip him.  Geez, we've only seen that gag about a couple THOUSAND times!  For the women out there, there is a scene where The Rock takes his shirt off, so that alone might be worth your admission.  Of course, for the guys there's Rosario Dawson, but she doesn't look terribly attractive in the film and looks more like she did in "Kids."  Basically, "The Rundown" made me wanna walk out.   

      James ( 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      Lame. Lame. Lame. This movie has promise but it seems to care more about being funny then being an action movie...which isn't a bad thing, it's a good cross of Indiana Jones & Ace Ventura, but the action is too easily achieved...I mean, the whole plot of the movie is based on some artifact, yet they have no trouble finding it. It's got wit and there's a great cameo in the beginning, fitting how The Rock has taken his* place in the film industry. Good popcorn movie, nothing great. Take your girl to see "Anything Else", she won't be bored, and you'll have a better** chance of gettin' it on afterwards.  * hint: he's running for governor now  ** Not making any guarantees.