We have got used to seeing action films from Dwayne Johnson, but it might be time to kick it up a notch. The 46-year-old Dwayne Johnson appeared in the new movie called Skyscraper which grossed $25 million during the last weekend, which is less than estimated. Johnson has had issues with some of the titles such as Baywatch and Rampage, films that struggled to meet the expectations.
Even though Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was an enormous success, there is a possibility that the audiences have gotten tired of The Rock. But that cannot be it, right? Johnson is one of the most-loved stars currently in the movie industry, and even though he is overexposed and every now and then we can see his new film, that couldn’t have harmed him.
What the problem may be is that the audience got tired of Johnson’s solo films which are created by directors who do not have any real vision. The Rock may not be the best actor out there, and he needs someone to push him. The problem with Baywatch was that there were no laugh-out-loud moments, whereas Rampage was based on an arcade game almost everyone has forgotten. On top of that, Skyscraper reminds us too much of Die Hard, which was much better.
For some reason, Dwayne doesn’t pick a premium product. He has been compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger over and over again, and with a reason, and while Arnie did appear in the paycheck action films, he did work with one of the best in business – James Cameron. On the other hand, The Rock has worked with Brad Peyton and Rawson Marshall Thurber. We have nothing against these directors, but they are not the names you turn to when you want a movie that will be remembered.
It is time for Dwayne Johnson to kick it up a notch. In order to make his movies become more than time wasters, he needs a director he will keep returning to. Perhaps names such as Taika Waititi or Edgar Wright should be considered? Also, I would love to see Dwayne and Guillermo del Toro cooperate. Depending on a genre, Johnson can really choose a high-quality director to helm the project.
Everything about Johnson’s films is huge – except the director. And until he changes that, his movies will be quickly forgotten no matter how big of a star The Rock is.
