The Rundown (2003)
Sean William Scott must be pissed Ryan Reynolds is stealing all his jobs. This Red Notice film coming out? That has to hurt.
It was a satisfying action romp, and I actually had fun looking a few things up. First, the Director felt intimidated, and thought that every action scene had been "done" before. So he decided he wanted to make things look like they hurt. He came to this decision after watching They Live (1988)
There is a bit of cartoony action, like when "The Rock" punches out a brick support pylon, but for the most part the hits look authentic.
I'm always happy to see Ernie Reyes Jr in an action movie, since Ninja turtles II. Turns out he's been doing action movies since the year I was born, and was actually Donatello in the first Ninja Turtles movie! (Not the voice, he was the guy in the suit)
I did wonder why all the bad guys have a "C" patch on the uniform when the main baddie is named "Hatcher" but it turns out his first name is Cornelius.
The movie was a box office failure, but a critical darling. Which is a shame. I would have watched a sequel.
The two things I wish were more fleshed out were why Travis (Sean William Scott) father wanted him back so bad. We get a small moment where he confronts his dad about a woman in chicago who was married, which kind of made me think his dad was turning him over to the mob?
The second thing was the guy who snakes a job from the rock in the opening sequence. He shoots the rock with a beanbag shotgun, but never gets comeuppance.
In an Arnold movie, Arnold would have got even with that bottom, even if it took time.