Movie Review ~ Walking Tall (2004): A Fast-Paced Action Classic You Shouldn’t Miss

Hello Movie Lovers 👋🏻

Today I am going to review the film Walking Tall, which, yes, is one of the early films in Dwayne Johnson’s career when he was establishing his identity in Hollywood. And while walking that path, when I first watched this film in Tv—I’m talking about the year 2004—I became a fan of this film right then and there. So much so that I did quite a bit of research on this film at that time.

And through that research, I found out that this film didn’t perform as well in the eyes of critics as it truly deserved to. And if we talk about the reason, this film is an official adaptation of a film with the same name that came out in the 70s, and a trilogy of that film was also made, which I have seen. According to that time period, all three of those films were decent, or let’s say average. But yes, the first part was good, and the same story was reimagined here with a new pattern and a good budget.

And then what happened? At the box office, this film didn’t earn as much as it should have and is considered, in a way, a very average film. But still, I’d say, completely ignoring the critics’ ratings, I would place this film in my guilty pleasure category, and I’d also tell you to definitely watch this film at least once. I still have its original CD lying around. Otherwise, if you want to watch it, this film is available for rent on Prime Video. And yes, the Hindi dubbing is also decent.

Story Overview

Moving on to the story of the film, it revolves around Chris, that is, Dwayne Johnson’s character, who, after serving in his country’s army, returns home to find that everything here has become corrupt. Especially his old friend Jay, who now runs this entire hometown, and along with that, the police here—as I said, everything is corrupt. Due to all this, a major incident happens with Chris at his casino. And after that, how he takes responsibility and whether he manages to clean up his town while staying within the boundaries of the law or not—that’s the answer this film will give you. It’s barely an hour and a half long, and whether you should spend time on it or not, I’ve already made that clear.

But now, I’d say you should give your time to this film. Because, as I mentioned, after the 70s time period, when Metro Gold Mayer decided to remake this film, in their view, not only the budget but also the actors changed. And since Dwayne Johnson was a rising star at that time, it made sense for the studio to take a chance, and I can say with confidence that his performance in this film will definitely not disappoint you.

Acting & Performance

And apart from that, Johnny Knoxville is in the film for comic relief, and as always, his performance—if you recognize that actor—you’d know what I mean. As for Neal and Kevin, they both play negative roles in this film, and their performances are also decent. And yes, the actor playing Dwayne Johnson’s father too. But as for actress Ashley Scott, she’s just okay in the film. The reason being, the entire focus of this film is on the story and the action.

On that note, this film delivers a pretty fast-paced experience, which the film’s director Kevin Bray made with his vast experience. Because at that time, he mostly directed TV shows in Hollywood. But making a film, I think, was a good move on his part. The studio trusted him and managed to produce a good film, which unfortunately didn’t do wonders at the box office at that time. But in today’s date, in my view, as I said, this film is underrated. So much so that many people have even forgotten about this film.

But on this channel, by talking about such films, I will definitely remind you how many such hidden gems have slipped away from our sight. Now, moving on from the film’s direction and talking about other aspects, everything else is average. Because, as I said, the film’s entire focus is on its fast pace, a good story, and action. So, sticking to that, this film definitely becomes an underrated film in Dwayne Johnson’s career.

My Opinion & Rating

Now, talking directly about the film’s ratings, for action, this film deserves 3 out of 5 stars for its time period. And when it comes to comedy, the comedy flavor in this film is decent, which, in my view, earns this film a rating of 2 out of 5 stars. And then, talking about drama, when I first watched this film, in my view, it takes 3 out of 5 stars for drama. And as for suspense, there’s no suspense in the film, so zero stars for that.

Now coming to horror and the film, there’s no horror in this film, but there are some thrilling moments that got me quite charged up while watching it in the theater. Because the steps Dwayne Johnson takes, again, I’d say within the boundaries of the law, are fun to watch on screen, and for that, this rating deserves at least 1 out of 5 stars. And when it comes to the mass audience, no doubt they’ll place this film in a single category.

Moving on to the critics, as much as they scrutinized and bashed this film, in their view, this film falls in the B-minus category. Completely disagreeing with them, I’d place this amazing, time-pass film in the B-plus category. As for guilty pleasure, it fits in just one category, but the B-plus category, walking the path of honesty, is absolutely perfect. This makes the film a pretty decent time-pass film in my and your eyes, one that I’d want to watch not just once but again and again.

Now, what’s your opinion on all this? You can let me know by writing in the comments.