Whether he’s laying the smackdown or stretching his comedy legs, audiences are smellin’ what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is cooking, making him one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood.
With Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle now available on home media, audiences are getting another dose of “the most electrifying man in all of entertainment,” and we thought this would be the perfect time to count down the 10 best movies with The Rock.
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Make sure you watch our video at the top of the article to see where all your old favorites land, or simply scroll down to read more about our choices.
10. ‘Get Smart’
Up first at No. 10 is Get Smart. The spy spoof also starred Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway and SPOILER, it featured The Rock in one of the few roles where he turned out to be a villain. Not only was Rocky a bad guy, but this was one of the first opportunities to showcase his comedy chops. Wrestling fans knew that The Rock had some good comedic timing, and now the rest of the world knew that too.
9. ‘Beyond the Mat’
At No. 9 is Beyond the Mat. Even though the riveting wrestling documentary focuses more on Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, The Rock’s participation was a huge selling point for getting the movie in theaters. A lot of people don’t remember this documentary, but for the little bit The Rock is actually in it, Beyond the Mat makes it look like “The Great One” has a real nasty streak.
8. ‘Walking Tall’
In the last few years, The Rock has taken it upon himself to breathe new life into quite a few franchises, and Walking Tall was his first step in that direction, remaking the 1973 version based on a true story.
Quite a few elements were changed, even the main character’s name (producers must have felt that “Buford” wasn’t tough enough), but The Rock was still able to swing a 2×4 like a hero and crack some bad guy skulls.
7. ‘Pain and Gain’
At No. 7 is Pain and Gain, where The Rock beefed up his already muscular frame to play a criminal bodybuilder. Just how charismatic is The Rock? Well THIS is the best movie Michael Bay has made post Transformers and it’s probably all thanks to The Rock.
6. ‘Furious 7’
By this point, the Fast & Furious franchise was long past being about street racing and had evolved into elaborate action thrill rides. And 7 was one of the best of them.
5. ‘Central Intelligence’
At No. 5 is Central Intelligence, where The Rock teamed up with Kevin Hart to deliver what is probably his funniest movie thus far. The premise is fat fetched, but the opening shower scene alone is enough to get this in the top ten.
4. ‘Snitch’
Snitch still stands as a highly underrated, thoughtful film with much more heart than your standard action fare. The plot is pretty straight forward as The Rock plays a dad who must go under cover as a plea bargain to help out his arrested son, but the whole thing is done with a little more nuance than one might expect. Go back and check this one out if you missed it.
3. ‘The Rundown’
By 2003, The Rock’s star was on the rise, and he showcased his ability to headline blockbusters with this comedy-action gem as Beck, the self proclaimed “retrieval expert,” which is pretty much a fancy way to say bounty hunter.
Sean William Scott is pretty much brilliant as the comic relief and throw in Christopher Walken as the villain, and who wouldn’t be entertained by this? The Rundown proved that The Rock was a bonafide action star. Even Arnold popped in for a cameo to give The Rock the rub.
2. ‘Fast Five’
After Fast & Furious, the franchise needed a serious nitrous oxide boost if it had any hopes of continuing. Cue The Rock. After Journey to the Center of the Earth and G.I. Joe, The Rock had proved that he had an innate ability to breathe new life into an otherwise failed franchise, and perhaps no attempt was as successful as it was here.
1. ‘Moana’
And finally, the absolute best movie with The Rock is Disney’s instant animated classic, Moana, where The Rock voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui and really – is it any surprise at this point that The Rock was chosen to play a Samoan demi-god?
The movie was a welcome addition into the Disney canon and The Rock even got to show off his singing chops. All we have to do is say “You’re Welcome” and ta-da! You’ve got a song stuck in your head. You’re Welcome!
