Walking Tall
Joe Nguyen, staff writer
April 5, 2004

After eight years of military service, Chris Vaughn (The Rock) returns to the town he grew up in Washington. To his dismay, the mill has been closed down a casino has been built. Much has been changed since he was last there. After a run-in with a crooked casino game, Vaughn decides that things are going to change.

This latest movie starring The Rock looked like it was going to be pure action from the previews. Who knew that there was actually going to be a story as well.

While it tries to disguise itself as an anti-drug movie, the prevailing theme is revenge. Finding that his wholesome youth memories of his hometown have been changed to a cesspool of sin, Vaughn fights to restore what was taken away from him.

The Rock and Johnny Knoxville in "Walking Tall"

The character of Chris Vaughn is very conservative and held wholesome values to the highest degree… at first. Everything was fine until the casino cheats his friend out of money. From that point forward, violence and killing was fair game, as long as only the bad guys were getting hurt.

The killing was kept to a minimum with very little blood. Surprising as many died as a result of a shotgun blast. Chris Vaughn’s weapon of choice however was a 2x4. He wreaked havoc throughout the movie with it. At one point, The Rock bashes in Jay Hamilton’s (Neal McDonough) tail lights with it. In reality, he wasn’t supposed to do it the real Porsche.

The worst part of this movie was the ending. It felt very weak and coughed out. Very anti-climactic. An addition 5 to 10 minutes to help further develop the storyline wouldn’t have hurt this 87 minute movie. I was also wondering about what happened to Vaughn’s friends when he was in the casino. There were four or five of them and only Ray (Johnny Knoxville) came to his aid. Also, the matter of Chris Vaughn Sr.’s (John Beasley) dislike of guns was never fully explained.

Despite its flaws, "Walking Tall" was meant to be a fun action movie, which it definitely is. If you’re a fan of The Rock, want to watch an action-packed movie, or just want to hear a country-pop cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday” then this is definitely for you.

Joe gives "Walking Tall":

Joe Nguyen is a staff writer for asiaXpress.com. You can reach Joe at joe@asiaxpress.com.

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