Theoretically, an actor should disappear into their role, to the point you’re watching the character rather than the performer. But, let’s face it, there are many actors out there who almost always play some variation of themselves. We’re thinking the Chris Pratts, the Tom Cruises, and Kevin Harts of this world.
But Reddit has now chosen the king of this trend, crowning them “the most overrated star of our time”. Can you smell what’s cooking over at r/movies? Yup, it’s a full takedown of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The post unsurprisingly criticizes him for always playing himself has been upvoted by 7.5k people, arguing that:
“What he does is literally always the same thing. In Central Intelligence, he’s The Rock. In Tooth Fairy, he’s The Rock. In Jumanji, he’s The Rock. In Fast and Furious, he’s The Rock. In *Skyscraper (*ridiculous film lol), he’s The Rock. For me, it’s like — seen one, seen ’em all. None of his roles are ever surprising or elevate above any of the other roles to me and I feel like anyone can predict literally everything his character is going to do in any given movie.”
The replies find it hard to disagree, though many rightly point out that audiences seem to want to see The Rock being The Rock, so who can blame him for following the same course that’s seen his movies becoming billion-dollar smashes?
It’s also noted that The Rock can stretch himself if the role requires it. We have a soft spot for his Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle performance, playing a child stuck inside a beefy action hero body. But it’s in Michael Bay’s extremely underrated 2013 movie Pain & Gain that he heads outside his usual wheelhouse, playing an ex-con and born-again Christian unwittingly dragged into a life of crime.
The Rock is also now 51, so after having proved himself many times over in blockbuster action we may see him take some smaller roles in prestige movies. We’d love to see stretch his acting muscles for a change rather than just rely on his… well, actual muscles.
So, is he really “the most overrated star of the modern era”? Maybe on Reddit, but we think he’s still got a couple of surprises up his sleeve.
Published: Jul 18, 2023 01:25 am