My Top Ten Dwayne Johnson Movies

Happy Birthday To Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), who turns 47 today.

I have to admit that I’m only a recent fan of The Rock. I don’t watch wrestling so didn’t really notice him until he became a big blockbuster movie star (I’m not talking about shit like Tooth Fairy). Also, he seems so sweet & likable on Twitter, etc. I like an actor who doesn’t seem like a dick in real life! Mostly, though, I’ve become a bit of a fan thanks to my daughter. She loves The Rock! Which means I’ve seen a lot of his movies that I otherwise may not have bothered to watch. I think it’s adorable that she likes him. Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger for my generation, The Rock is the big action star for her generation.

There’s still a lot I haven’t seen, though, as he’s done so many of the types of movies that aren’t really my thing (Fast & Furious, etc). I’ve listed all I’ve not seen at the end. So, at the moment, my “Top Ten” is a cheat as I’ve only seen nine. Oh well. I can add to this list later. I’ll definitely be watching the next Jumanji movie (loved the last one).

So for now, these are My Top Ten (nine…) Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Movies, counting down to my favorite:

9. Baywatch (Good god this was horrible! You know it’s bad when it’s lower than Tooth Fairy. And, no – the kid hasn’t seen this one.)

8. Tooth Fairy

7. Race To Witch Mountain

6. San Andreas

5. Rampage

4. Skyscraper

3. Fighting With My Family

2. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

1. Moana

Movies I’ve Not Yet Seen:
Longshot, The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, Welcome To The Jungle, Walking Tall, Doom, Be Cool, Gridiron Gang, Southland Tales, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Planet 51, Why Did I Get Married Too?, The Other Guys, Faster, Fast & Furious 5 & 6 & 7 & 8, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Empire State, Pain & Gain, Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Hercules, Jem And The Holograms, Central Intelligence

My Top Ten Movies Of 2017

Here’s my final list of 2017: All the movies released in the UK in 2017 that I saw. As always, I’ve ranked them from my least favorite to my favorite. Remember that the UK gets all the “Oscar” stuff in January & February (so annoying), so a lot of last year’s nominees are here. And I need to point out that I missed out on seeing a lot this year so I’ve listed some of those at the end.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2018 is a good year for films other than just superhero movies. Here are My Top Ten Movies Of 2017 (starting at the bottom – I saw 37 & there’s one tie):

36-31

36. Sing
35. Smurfs: The Lost Village
34. 1922
33. Beauty And The Beast (2017)
32. Jackie
31. Okja

Top Thirty

30. The Fits
29. Life
28. Mother!
27. Alien: Covenant
26. Split
25. Ancien And The Magic Tablet (aka Napping Princess)
24. Before I Fall
23. Despicable Me 3
22. The Babysitter
21. Get Out

Top Twenty

20. Manchester By The Sea
19. Spider-Man: Homecoming
18. La La Land
17. Gifted
16. A Dog’s Purpose
15. Moonlight
14. Lion
13. T2 Trainspotting
12. John Wick: Chapter 2
11. The LEGO Batman Movie

Top Ten

10. TIE: Logan & Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets

9. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

8. Thor: Ragnarok

7. Gerald’s Game

6. Wonder Woman

5. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

4. Baby Driver

3. Blade Runner 2049

2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

1. It

As I said, I missed out on more films than usual that I really wanted to see this year. Some of these are probably even Top Ten contenders so it’s worth mentioning that I’ve not seen them (I especially want to see the ones in bold):

A Monster Calls, Hidden Figures, Kong: Skull Island, Ghost In The Shell, The Circle, Colossal, The Red Turtle, My Life As A Courgette, It Comes At Night, War For The Planet Of The Apes, The Beguiled, Dunkirk, Atomic Blonde, A Ghost Story, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, The Dark Tower, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Glass Castle, Happy Death Day, Call Me By Your Name, Murder On The Orient Express, Wonder, Brigsy Bear, Better Watch Out, The Greatest Showman

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017) Review

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017)

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Based on Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Ser’Darius Blain, Morgan Turner, Colin Hanks, Missi Pyle

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Set twenty-one years after the first film, the film follows four teenagers who are transported into the video game world of Jumanji, and playing as the characters they chose, must beat the game in order to return home. The film is also a tribute to Robin Williams, star of the original.

My Opinion:

I’ll be honest – I really liked this movie. It was exactly what I was in the mood for the other day. I needed a fun, chill-out, popcorn movie.

The first Jumanji isn’t exactly near & dear to my heart as I wasn’t the right age for it when it came out (I was in my damn 20s already. Shit I’m old). It’s a good family classic, though. I watched it again a couple of weeks ago with my daughter to refresh my memory. Sheesh – I can’t say it has aged all that well. How terrible did those monkeys look?! Even the kid commented on that. However, she absolutely loved the film. I was surprised. So the story and the characters stand the test of time even if other things about the movie aren’t doing so well now.

As I like but don’t have some kind of huge childhood affection for the first film, I had zero issues with them updating the story for current times. I thought they did a really good job adapting it to a video game this time around and I actually prefer this film to the first one. But don’t tell my kid that – she still loves the first one much more. The story just feels far less messy in this one plus I enjoyed there being a lot more humor. And penis jokes. Lots of penis jokes! But as I’m an old woman with a Beavis & Butthead sense of humor, I appreciate a good penis joke.

The teenagers were all fine in this but we don’t spend loads of time with them as they become their avatars in the game. The avatars (Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart & Karen Gillan) were great. I’ve not seen that many Dwayne Johnson films but I can say that this is the most I’ve ever liked him in a movie. He was very funny, as was Karen Gillan. There’s this whole flirting scene involving Gillan & Jack Black that’s pretty damn hilarious. Love him or hate him (I love him), Black seems to be having a lot of fun in this film and Kevin Hart also does well as his usual Kevin Hart self. You know what you’re gonna get with Black & Hart, though, so the bigger surprise was how funny Johnson & Gillan were.

Yeah, I really liked Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. As the kid gets older, I’m enjoying seeing more of these family films that are actually entertaining for the whole family instead of just the kids. But with penis jokes. Beware the penis jokes! I think this movie is aimed a bit older than the first Jumanji.

My Rating: 7.5/10

It looks like this is my last review of 2017. Hope you all have a fun New Year’s Eve! See you in 2018 with my end-of-year Best Of 2017 lists, starting tomorrow.