Now as for Sly and Willis they have wasted

Rating: 1/10 (7 November 2013)

Now as for Sly and Willis they have wasted a lot of their career doing action movies because it doesn't stretch them as actors. They are good actors given good roles, people forget Stallone got an Oscar nomination. The Rock is more like Arnold. He's limited in his acting chops but has a charm and likability and a good presence and we can expect no more from him than simple roles, where his prerequisite is simply to cause carnage and emote on the odd occasion. I am glad we could see a reinvention of 80's action movies, Jackie Chan breathed new life ot the martial arts genre throughout the late 90's and the first years of this decade, but they seem to be wearing thin now so it seems some good old fashioned superhuman carnage could be on the cards, there's even the possibility of a new Die Hard, Rambo, True Lies and some new films like Spy Hunter. Even Van Damme and co in DTV land are going back to basics and not trying to test their acting, because truth be told for 99% percent of these action stars it's a test where failure is inevitable and it's not what their fans really want.
The Rundown is simplistic stuff. You have a simple premise and a setting that is prepped and ready to be blown up. You have a strange mix of central characters, with The Rock and Sean William Scott. Meaning there will be plenty of fast jive talking and one liners. You have your thespian in their as the bad guy. Christopher Walken in this case and your ready, you have the basis for a good fun action movie. This is great fun. Arnold and Sly would be proud to have this on their CV. In fact it is on Arnies CV because he has a cameo at the start which is effectively him passing the torch on to the Rock. There are no twists and turns of any really note but the important thing is that it is nicely paced it has a nice glossy sheen to the cinematography. There are few hints at them aiming for a particularly young and hip-hop or Nu Metal demographic like Fast And Furious or Jet Li's films have done, thankfully. It's cool without going over the top and blowing it's wad. I like the fact this isn't made for pimply teenagers first and foremost. It's made for action lovers, it's a loving and subtle gift to young adults, 20 something's who watched the action films in the 80's and early 90's when they were undemanding, untainted fun and far form the marketed tripe we get now.