Release Date: April 2, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, sexual content, drug material and language
Directed by: Kevin Bray
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Ashley Scott, Neal McDonough, John Beasley

Plot:
In Walking Tall, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Chris Vaughn, a retired soldier who returns to his hometown to make a new life for himself, only to discover his wealthy high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous lumber mill and turned the town's resources towards his own criminal gains. The place Chris grew up is now overrun with crime, drugs, and violence. Enlisting the help of his old pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), Chris gets elected sheriff and vows to shut down Hamilton's operations. His actions endanger his family and threaten his own life, but Chris refuses to back down until his hometown once again feels like home.

Review:
Straight off the bat, anyone who enters this movie is either watching it because The Rock stars in it or because they feel like watching an action movie. Besides those two factors I don't see why someone would go ahead and purchase a ticket for this film unless they have nothing else to do. For those who do go ahead and enter a screening of this film won't be amazed, but it will offer enough of what you looked for in it.

The film is based on a true story of a man who returns back to his town and finds it being quite corrupted. He turns to become sheriff and fix it up to the way it used to be. There has already been a film that was made in 1973 called Walking Tall and here it is again thirty one years later as a remake. While I haven't seen the 1973 version, I'm sure it wasn't an all out revenge action fest like the newest version is and that is not necessarily a bad thing either.

Revenge is something that Walking Tall has plenty of. Its The Rock man handling everyone that has caused him pain or has interfered with the town. As far as looks, style and charisma goes, The Rock has never been better in all three than here. He has made other action films before this one such as The Scorpion King and The Rundown and in this film he easily does better than in the others, The Rock has yet to give it his all in a film though.

With The Rundown he had a chance to shine and did somewhat, but Walking Tall is superior in performance wise. This film as a whole is slightly better than The Rundown as well because it doesn't contain jokes that fall flat, it doesn't contain comedy left and right either which was a flaw in The Rundown for the action star. The film does contain its light moments, but only when it calls for it, not when it wasn't needed to only interrupt the momentum.

The Rock is quickly rising up the ladder as the definitive action star as of late. While his acting is not the greatest, I wouldn't necessarily say its bad either. If someone were to par The Rock and Arnold Schwarznegger side by side, acting wise, The Rock comes out on top. He looks more confident, doesn't have an accent and just seems more in place in his movies.

The film is not all about The Rock though because for one thing Johnny Knoxville also stars in the film. He brings a sense of comedy into the atmosphere which was solid and effective comedy which meshed well together unlike some of The Rundown. Knoxville is thrown into this film simply for that matter and because he stands next to The Rock with support and a sense to overcome his problems that he mentions in the film. These two did quite an interesting job together and as solid as Walking Tall may seem, its not a solid film, it has its problems.

Walking Tall most certainly has its faults and its more than clear. The script for one thing is the majority of its problems. Its a plain story that has been rehashed somewhat over and over and there really is nothing for it to offer. As far as standing out, you won't find any in Walking Tall because the script was somewhat bland. However, has anyone ever heard of direction and characters overpowering the script?

That's one of the few things that makes this film survives for the most part. The direction by Kevin Bray is solid and the action scenes are effective and engaging. There are signs of originality and tense moments for that matter. The characters in the film are also rather interesting that it just grabs the audience into the film. The Rock plays such a happy and friendly, but at the same time angry man that it has the audience wanting more from him.

The Rock does just that with Walking Tall. He fills the gaps that are completely visible and fills them with intensity. The film moves along and its never dull or boring and keeps its spirit high with different situations in the small neighborhood. It has interesting elements combining lost relationships and different conversions from people that it won't be too far fetched to say its a fun, entertaining, worth the price of admission type of film.

Walking Tall is a perfect example of a direction and the films characters overpowering an average script. Its a film that has momentum and cares about itself as a whole to have the audience involved. In result, Walking Tall offers enough excitement to satisfy audiences. If you can careless about anything except entertainment in movies, than Walking Tall is for you.