I think I need a break from the Rock

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the most popular celebrities in the world, That's a stone-cold fact ( pun intended) from his time in the WWE to the silver screen he has been everywhere and back. But at this point, I think he needs to take a breather. Once upon a time when I hear his name, I would be excited, now when I hear about him and a film I roll my eyes now. Let me be clear I don't hate him I’m just bored with him at this point. Hear me out.

Let us start with one of his most recent bomb Black Adam. I can only compare this film to a Thanksgiving turkey without gravy. It's big, cooked, and extremely dry. For something that he considered a passion project for the last 5-7 years, the film feels like it was written in 2007. But unlike the housing market, no one could save this. The biggest issue is The Rock himself. He wanted to mold the DCEU in his image making Black Adam the center of it. He wanted his nemesis to be Superman. This might sound good in his head the only problem is in comics his nemesis is Shazam the guy with the same powers that he has. Unfortunately, he made it very clear that he didn't want to be associated with Shazam. He did this by refusing cameos by him or any other characters in his movie to be seen in their movie. This only made the inconsistency of the DCEU even worse. This culminates in this 200 million dollar film bombing and The Rock was trying to lie his way out of it. Then you have the Henry Cavill situation on top of that. Let's just say this was one bomb a lot of people didn't survive the fallout from.

 

Just when I thought the Eagles losing the Super Bowl hurt my feelings, The Rock bringing back the XFL made me dead inside. How many of y’all remember the first time the XFL was a thing? It survived one season before filing for bankruptcy. Vince Mcmahon bought it back for 2020 and well ….

 

It was DOA. The Rock buys the XFL and does a 2023 season. It was meh at best and never had more than one million viewers. The Rock was trying that fake it till you make it strategy but no one was buying it. It was worse than the San Andreas movie only difference is one of these is not coming back. ( There is a San Andreas 2 coming out ). I’m all about getting paid but at what cost? Jungle Cruise was a weird attempt to do another ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ (a movie based on a ride) But it was too long and too boring which is becoming the norm for The Rock.

On the plus side when given the chance he can do great work. I think Spencer for HBO’s Ballers is one of his best roles to date. You love him at times, other times you smack him upside his head & there are a few points where you're screaming at the TV over a choice he made. Dwayne showed a side that was rarely seen and in rare form. I think if he flexed more acting muscles I wouldn't have a feeling of oversaturation. 

Sidenote: Pedro Pascal has played up to 10 different roles in the last 7 years and I get lost in his performance every time.

I also enjoyed watching Young Rock, mind you he's not on screen for a lot of it but he has a team of actors playing him at different stages in his life while he narrates. Kind of like “ Everybody Hates Chris “ Both shows are also a reimagining of their past where things a spun more in a comedic tone but there is still room for drama that each version of Dwayne carries well.

At the end of the day, I think he should take a break and focus on one project at a time and take his time with it. Quality over quantity at the end of the day. I want him to do the same thing want everyone else on this orb to do. If you wanna be a better actor start working those muscles as much as the ones on your body.

 Do Better, Be Better  Dwayne