The Mummy Returns (2001)
May 6, 2001Revived Mummy/Adventure
Sequel to the 1999 The Mummy. Here Stephen Sommers amplifies everything in that film by a factor of ten where the constant bombardment by the spectacular reaches an point of absurd overkill
Dwayne Johnson
The Scorpion King (2002)
Apr 23, 2002Sword and Sorcery
Back when Dwayne Johnson was a wrestler billing himself as The Rock, this was a forgettable sword and sorcery effort spun off from his appearance in The Mummy Returns. This led to a surprising number of sequels
Doom (2005)
Oct 31, 2005Videogame Adaptation/Labyrinth of Monsters
Disappointing film version of the videogame. The film seems to either miss or water down the principal appeals of the game, although you do get Dwayne Johnson (still billed as The Rock) as the bad guy
Southland Tales (2006)
May 4, 2008Near-Future L.A.
Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame makes a work set in a near-future L.A., a sprawling film bursting at the edges with too many characters and subplots but not uninteresting
Get Smart (2008)
Jul 27, 2009TV Series Remake/Spy Comedy
There seems something crushingly redundant about conducting a big screen revival of tv's Get Smart in the era after Austin Powers. The film is a middle-of-the-road comedy that never finds the zaniness of the original
Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
Apr 14, 2009Psi-Powered Alien Children/Disney Remake
Revival of the Disney Witch Mountain films of the 1970s. Now the films have been dragged into the post-X Files era and flashy effects added to negligible result
Planet 51 (2009)
Nov 30, 2009Animation/Human Astronaut Seen as an Invader on an Alien Planet
A one-gag animated film that essentially reverses the plot of E.T, and has a human astronaut stranded on a planet of aliens and adopted by one boy. More likeable than it has a right to be.
Tooth Fairy (2010)
Jan 27, 2010Tough Guy Becomes a Tooth Fairy
From the top wrestling superstar in the world in the early 00s to movie action hero to being dressed in a pink tutu with fairy wings, it is hard to believe that Dwayne Johnson’s box-office star would have ever recovered from this family film embarrassment that sees him cast as a fairy
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
Feb 8, 2012Jules Verne Adaptation/Island of Giant Fauna
Sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, a supposed adaptation of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island and a consistently silly, nonsensical film that operates at the level of a children's cartoon
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
Mar 27, 2013Futuristic Military Action Team
You can't complain that this is not exactly what you expect it to be – two hours of cartoonish action during which the brain singularly fails to engage. This is less unapologetic about being a military fantasy than the first film
Hercules (2014)
Jul 26, 2014Greek Mythological Hero's Ordinary Exploits
Dwayne Johnson starring Hercules film that just wants to be a big dumb cartoon without a brain cell in its body. This takes the interesting approach that Hercules was an ordinary man whose exploits were all down to PR
San Andreas (2015)
May 31, 2015Disaster Movie/California Hit by Super-Earthquake
As the spectacle of mass destruction goes, you could hardly get more epic in scale than this. On the other hand, as someone whose hometown was obliterated by an earthquake in 2011, I find it offensive that such devastation is arranged for our enjoyment while the suffering and even the idea that anybody has been killed has been edited out
Moana (2016)
Feb 11, 2017Disney Animation/Pacific Island Mythology
Despite being a huge box-office and critical success and being nominated for an Academy Award, I am in a minority in disliking this. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that it appropriates the culture from my neck of the woods and only spins it out as a series of glib jokes and one-liners
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Mar 25, 2018Trapped Inside a Jungle-Themed Videogame
A revival of Jumanji. The original's boardgame is now a videogame that sucks the players inside. The adventure elements are routine but the film's has comedic fun with its bodyswapped characters
Rampage (2018)
Oct 27, 2018Videogame Adaptation/Giant Animals Amok
The idea of Dwayne Johnson facing a giant gorilla in an adaptation of a 1980s arcade game doesn’t exactly shout out Academy Award material; on the other hand, appreciated as a zero expectation cartoon of a film and the mindless mass destruction spectacle it is, this works in a goofily entertaining way
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Mar 7, 2020Trapped Inside a Videogame
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the reboot of the 90s Jumanji, was a box-office success. That mandated a sequel. The central problem is where exactly does a film about characters sucked inside a videogame go with its premise?
Jungle Cruise (2021)
Aug 7, 2021Adventure Film
The long-delayed film based on the Disney theme park ride is an assemblage of cliches from various adventure films but ends up being far more enjoyable than it has any right to be
DC League of Super Pets (2022)
Sep 4, 2022Animation/DC Comics Superhero Pets
Superheroes have overrun screens. It is starting to seem a little too much when we now get an animated film about animal superheroes who form their own Justice League
Black Adam (2022)
Dec 3, 2022Superhero Film
An entry from the abortive attempt to create a DC Comics shared universe. Dwayne Johnson takes on the role of the DC's anti-hero in a film that is far more fun than the recent Marvel offerings
Red One (2024)
Dec 27, 2024Christmas Action Film
Essentially Christmas the Action Film featuring Dwayne Johnson as Santa’s bodyguard going into action accompanied by Chris Evans as a nerdy hacker when Santa is abducted
Moana 2 (2024)
Feb 7, 2025Disney Animation/Pacific Island Mythology
Disney make a sequel to Moana, their venture into Pacific Island mythology