Review of Welcome To The Jungle

Introduction

There`s someone clearly making waves in the action film community right now. Former WWE wrestler, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is proving to be a popular draw with his films getting box-office attention. This is probably because there`s a void where there needs to be a robust leading action star which might explain why everyone`s taken with the charismatic wrestling star. Not to be confused with the Guns N` Roses song of the same name, Welcome to the Jungle, also known as The Rundown in the US, is the latest film starring The Rock and one, for some reason, that has girls smiling.

Action films need lead actors that are bigger than life-size; actors who walk the walk and talk the part, engaging an audience from start-to-finish without too many overused clichéd quips; someone who`s charismatic, who looks good and who can deliver a punch, a kick and generally take care of himself. Vin Diesel has made some good action films, but he lacks presence when compared to The Rock. The Rock has a charm that Diesel doesn`t have and it oozes from every pore; perhaps his wrestling showmanship has taught him tricks that Vin has yet to pick up on.

Beck (The Rock) is a `Retrieval Expert`, all 6`4" and 220lbs of him, on one last job getting the son of a local man out of Brazil and getting him back to Los Angeles. Easier said than done.

Video

Presented with a 2.35:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer Welcome to the Jungle looks every bit the recent Hollywood big budget action picture. For the most part, colours are well balanced with a good level of detail on show. There are some scenes that look a little darker than I would have liked, but the transfer itself is very, very good. Contrast looks good with very little grain in tow. I couldn`t see any sign of compression or other problem besides the odd minor fleck of dirt.

Audio

Regarding the audio problems that I`ve read in other reviews for this region 2 DVD, I can only comment similarly on the fact that the LFE on the English Dolby Digital isn`t as heavy sounding as the Spanish or Italian 5.1 tracks on this disc. However, the LFE track still manages some decent bass output and one that I`m content with. Despite the lack of a heavier bass, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack here works well. It sounds wide and very dynamic; dialogue is clear from the centre and there are some good action scenes where the surrounds work well spreading bullet ricochet and other crashing sounds. It sounds as though the sound level has been pumped up for the rear speakers, while bass has been subdued a little. Body thumping and crunching effects sound good, and the LFE overall does some good work by being subtle where needed and flexes in with the action. Some have complained about it, but it sounds okay to me and I can always pump up the bass if I really want to.

Features

Easy to navigate static menus with a fair selection of extras:

• Director and Cast Commentary - Better known as Director Peter Berg and The Rock, this commentary is a fun track to listen to, though you can`t take everything they say seriously. There`s some useful info about the production but otherwise it`s a couple of guys just lounging around nattering while watching their film.

• Producer Commentary - This is different to the first commentary and while it`s not as entertaining as the first track, it`s easy going and informative.

• Rumble in the Jungle (10:33) - This featurette covers some of the action fighting in the film, giving us a look behind-the-scenes at how these were put together. It`s interesting.

• The Amazon, Hawaii Style (5:28) - Some of the film was shot in Hawaii, doubling up as Brazil, and this is more behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew in Hawaii. Interesting.

• Appetite for Destruction (8:21) - Lots of guns and things being blown up. Here`s a featurette to cover this and

• The Rundown Uncensored: A Rock-umentary (6:09) - The Rock`s love affair with the baboons, in particular Kamila, exposed.

• Running Down the Town (4:10) - In true Hollywood fashion, a Brazilian rain forest town was built in California for the film by Production Designer Thomas Duffield. Putting this out of mind, the illusion works well.

• Walken`s World (5:34) - Brilliant one-liners and some of the best dialogue in the film. This little Walken featurette is cool.

• Deleted Scenes (13:50) - Some deleted scenes, which aren`t bad at all, but better left as deleted. These help to extend some of the scenes.

• Trailers - A bunch of widescreen enhanced trailers. A couple with DD5.1 sound.

All extras, including both audio commentaries, contain English subtitles. The film too has clear, easy to read English subs.

Conclusion

The story is basic and fine for an action film. Beck needs to go get Travis out of Brazil and bring him home, back to LA. The local boss in Brazil, Hatcher (Christopher Walken), won`t let them leave and is intrigued by an ancient artefact that Travis wants to find, Gato del Diablo. There you have it. There`s a fair amount of banter between the two leads of Beck (The Rock) and Travis (Seann William Scott), some of it quite funny, some of it unnecessary. There are a few scenes in the film, which, to me, seem needless and drag the film out a little too much. Some of this is repetition of dialogue to set up what later happens in the film but I think this really slows the pace. Thankfully it doesn`t happen very often. Walken`s dialogue however, perhaps because of the way in which he delivers it, is always good, despite one or two scenes that try too hard.

The casting for this film works; I did have my doubts about Seann William Scott when I saw his name attached to the film because I can`t shake off his Stifler or Road Trip characters. I was pleasantly surprised though and happy to say that he`s bearable here. The Rock has the right blend of charisma and delivery, which makes him likeable, and what can be said of Christopher Walken? There are some wonderful moments with Walken, who has some truly memorable dialogue and shows no signs of boring anyone with his multitude of performances; he`s superb as the bad guy. This leaves support from Ewen Bremner and Rosario Dawson. Bremner provides some light relief and Dawson plays at being pretty and tough. The production design for this film is done amazingly well considering that most of the film was shot in California. Some of the main scenes in the film really do feel like a small Brazilian village.

As far as action films go, Welcome to the Jungle is good, as it does what it sets out to do, it entertains; yes it`s predictable but it`s polished and served up well. Despite a few slightly longer than needed scenes, Welcome to the Jungle is still fun and manages to pick up the pace where it`s needed. Good action, good sound and video and a better than average selection of extras means this is one DVD, which is bound to be played a few times at a decent volume.