Batson's Blog

I didn’t intend on watching this but it was the best option of the flight I was recently on. So, Rampage it was. Sometimes it’s best to go into a movie with no (or minimal) expectations because it surprises you. I’ll admit that the movie didn’t start the way I thought it would. Granted I didn’t watch every trailer so maybe the setup of the movie was previewed in one of those. The Rock is a zookeeper (or zoologist?).  He has a special bond with one gorilla in particular.  A space crash, one mad scientist and a full-on mutation later, Davis Okoye (The Rock) is now teaming up with an attractive genetic engineer, Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris). Davis' relationship with George was a bit corny. Or a lot corny. I don’t know exactly what it’s like dealing with apes, but I find it very hard to believe that they can understand dialogue the way The Rock’s character was delivering it. A basic understanding? Sure. But understanding sarcasm (enough to flip a human off)? I ...

Ooh. I'm a bit disheartened writing this review because I had such high hopes for this one. Some people don't like Kevin Hart, but I think he's hilarious. He's got this charisma and style to his punchlines that just kills me. The Rock usually does well, too. He's one of the most successful dudes in Hollywood right now. I figured Central Intelligence would be a great movie with those two involved. Unfortunately, I was wrong. This was one of those movies where the trailer showed the best parts of the movie. They took a different route than the typical buddy cop movie plot. Instead of having two guys team up to the save the world, they through a twist in there. The Rock's character -- Bob Stone -- was a good guy. Or was he bad? Or maybe good? Or bad? The storyline throughout the movie had you guessing whether his character was an insane bad guy or a misunderstood agent. It was different. I'll give them credit for that. It didn't r...

Well so much for my prediction. Last week I predicted that Fast 6 would have a tough time getting number one at the box office since it was facing competition like Iron Man 3 and Star Trek: Into Darkness (both opened earlier in May) along with The Hangover III , which opened Thursday. It's time for me to eat crow though. Fast 6 ruled the box office , with $98.5 million in the U.S. and more than $250 million worldwide. So about those roles The Rock wants in Star Wars and Transformers, along with a possible role in a Marvel movie?? I think some movie studio executives may be ringing his phone, texting his mobile, sending PMs on Twitter and knocking on The Rock's door. Related Content: • 2013 - The Year of The Rock? • G.I. Joe: Retaliation - reviewed. • Iron Man 3 - reviewed. • Hollywood's Best Espionage Agents

In Chinese culture it may be the year of the snake , but globally, it seems to be the year of The Rock. Years ago (feels like a loooong time now that I'm at the elderly age of 27), when I first started watching pro wrestling, The Rock was just starting to break out on his own. I started watching in 1997, less than a year after Rocky Maivia debuted.  He was supposed to be a fan favorite, but when fans weren't reacting favorably, the World Wrestling Federation made him a heel (or villain). That's when he showed some personality and became very popular -- a household name in fact. Still, predicting that he would one day be a box office draw for major motion pictures would have gotten a lot of laughs. Yet that's exactly what happened. I figured he'd do well in the action genre, but I had no idea that he'd end up being all of the place. On May 24 he'll be in Fast 6 . That will be the fourth movie he's been in this year. He's signed on to be i...