Typecast as a charismatic, stoic action hero who always manages to save the day in his recent films, Dwayne Johnson is not the one-trick pony modern audiences seem to have been accustomed to in recent times. On the contrary, the actor has given a diverse range of fantastic performances in his now three-decade-old career in Hollywood. So follow along as we unearth Dwayne Johnson’s 7 best movies in the list below (and some of the entries here are sure to surprise you).
7. Black Adam
While Black Adam is by no means a great superhero movie by any stretch of the imagination, I absolutely loved The Rock’s devil-may-care attitude here. Made towards the end of the DCEU, Johnson plays Teth Adam here, an ancient supernatural entity who is mistakenly awoken in the present day. Driven to dispatch bad guys by ending them permanently, Adam’s killing spree invites the attention of Suicide Squad’s Amanda Waller, who sends the Justice Society to deal with him.
Playing a cold-blooded killer has its advantages, and The Rocks chews every scene he is in. The action is fantastic, and Johnson is having a lot of fun playing against his type here. While the film did not change the genre, it showed the Rock was serious in changing up his forte if the role demanded it.
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6. The Mummy Returns
The sequel to the 1999 smash hit, The Mummy, was the film that introduced the world to Dwayne Johnson. Bringing on the charisma and physicality from his WWE days, Johnson plays Mathayus, an ancient warrior who sold his soul to Anubis and thus became the Scorpion King. Playing an antagonist in his first feature ever was no easy task, but The Rock does good work here, managing to hold his own against the likes of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Although the critics were less than pleased, The Mummy Returns is a formidable sequel that more than honors the legacy of the original.
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5. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle
The 2017 sequel to the 1995 cult classic Jumanji should not have succeeded, but it turned out to be one of the best crowd-pleasing films of 2017. Johnson plays the online avatar of a nerd, Spencer Gilpin, transported into the Jumanji video game, where he and his friends have to thwart the nefarious plans of a corrupt archeologist and his goons.
Welcome to the Jungle is a great holiday blockbuster that combines action, comedy, and great characterization in potent doses. Johnson, along with the rest of the cast here, is firing on all cylinders as he elevated the film to a genuine crowd-pleaser that impressed fans the world over. The film’s massive success would lead to two more sequels, one of which was released in 2019 and another due in 2026.
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4. The Rundown
Some might consider The Rundown to be an unexpected entry on this list. Action maestro Peter Berg’s 2003 jungle actioner sees Johnson play a bounty hunter trying to clear his debts in South America, only to get embroiled in a fight against an oppressive town operator. With brilliant action, fantastic stunts, and even better comedy, The Rundown makes full use of Johnson’s talents in both these spectrums. Johnson, as the no-nonsense protagonist, is perfect, and the villain (played by Christopher Walken) makes the entire feature even better. What results is a film that is one of the most enjoyable of the wrestler-turned-actor’s career and manages to hold up beautifully even 20 years later.
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3. Fast 5
Although Dwayne Johnson has played Luke Hobbs in a whopping six films in the Fast and Furious franchise, it is his first appearance as the character in 2011’s Fast Five that is most memorable. Playing a DSS agent tasked with taking down Dominic Torretto, Johnson’s Hobbs delivers an intense performance here that goes toe to toe with Vin Diesel, even surpassing him by the very end.
Johnson’s star power and charisma would see Hobbs return to the main franchise four more times and even headline his own spinoff movie. Even though Fast and Furious has always been Vin Diesel’s baby, there is no doubt that Johnson brought much-needed gravitas to the franchise that was on the verge of becoming stale. As the post-credits scene in the last film showed, Johnson is due to return in the final Fast and Furious installment, if they ever get around to making it.
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2. Pain And Gain
Michael Bay’s retelling of the real-life bodybuilder crime saga of the '90s is a blast from start to end. The shockingly true story follows three bodybuilders who leave a rich man to die after kidnapping him and taking over his assets, but everything goes horribly wrong when the victim survives the assault.
Pain and Gain was the first time we saw The Rock go against his typecast persona and display some real acting chops. Playing a vulnerable born-again Christian bodybuilder who stumbles upon some hard times, The Rock manages to steal the spotlight from both Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie here, delivering a nuanced performance that earned him considerable goodwill.
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1. The Smashing Machine
Surprisingly, Johnson's latest film might just be his very best. Finally focusing on niche roles as opposed to predictable crowd pleasers, Johnson signed on to play MMA fighter Mark Kerr in Bennie Safdie’s surprisingly moving drama ‘The Smashing Machine’. The Rock is unrecognizable here, both visually and from an acting standpoint, as he slips into the role of this famed fighter with depth and nuance. Aided by a vibrant Emily Blunt as his girlfriend Dawn, The Smashing Machine is Johnson at his finest as he showcases his real acting talents for the first time. A beautiful, poignant story of perseverance and redemption, The Smashing Machine is a gem that should not be missed.
Let us know in the comments what your favourite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson films of all time are.
