We’ve finally caved and resisted something that our masses have been clamouring for…

In a new feature we’re launching here every week at In The Seats where we harken back to the previous works in the realm of TV, Film and everything else in-between.

It’s the debut of “ITS Lists” where we talk about the Top 5 of basically anything tied a new release happening this week.  No rules, just fun and debate to see if you agree with us.

This week, in honour of the release of The Smashing Machine we dive into the oeuvre of Dwayne Johnson and we look his best performances on screen.

One of these might surprise you…

Faster

After 10 years in prison, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) has a singular focus – to avenge the murder of his brother during the botched bank robbery that led to his imprisonment. Now a free man with a deadly to-do list in hand, he’s finally on his mission…but with two men on his trail; veteran cop (Billy Bob Thornton) just days from retirement, and a young egocentric hitman with a flair for the art of killing and a newfound worthy opponent. The hunter is also the hunted. It’s a do or die race to the list’s finish as the mystery surrounding his brother’s murder deepens, and new details emerge along the way hinting that Driver’s list may be incomplete.

Director George Tillman Jr’s Faster all the way back in 2010 is about as ‘B-Movie’ as they come but in this film what Dwayne does is pretty special as it lets his physicality and his presence do the talking without leaning on CGI or any quick one liners.  It was the first time he was allowed to be genuinely menacing but also charismatic on screen and it served as a precursor to what was to come.

Fast Five (Fast Franchise)

Before the introduction of Luke Hobbs into the franchise back in 2011, the Fast & Furious was about living life that quarter mile at a time with fast cars, gorgeous women in that ever illusive search for family.  However when the gang broke Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) out of prison it got a different level of heat on them because they couldn’t even survive in the slums of Brazil without a special grade of cop looking to bring them in.

Enter the scenery stealing, ass kicking larger then live Dwayne Johnson that we all knew he could be as the bad ass cop who ultimately has a moral code of his own as everyone gets involved in one way or another with one of Brazil’s most notorious drug lord.  It’s the film that set Dwayne up for a decade of box office dominance after years of falling just a little shy of breaking into the upper echelon of Hollywood stardom.

Wrestlemania X-8

I told you you’d be surprised…

Let me paint the picture; back in Feb of 2002 the dastardly heel (i.e. bad guys) trio of the New World Order or NWO returned to the WWE (then WWF) to disrupt the system.  With Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in tow, ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan comes back to complain about why he left the WWE back in the mid-90’s.  Quickly he finds his way into a verbal confrontation with The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) because as Hollywood Hulk Hogan is running down the fans and the professional wrestling business….The Rock was there to defend it.  Rock while showing respect to Hogan ultimately came to put him in place to remind him who the biggest star in Sports and Entertainment at the time was.  Rock challenges Hogan to a match at Wrestlemania and Hogan agrees.

In subsequent weeks, Hogan and the NWO put the Rock through a physical hell, sending him out of the arena in an ambulance which they then decide to crash into with their own 18 wheeler truck.

Hogan was the heel (the bad guy) Rock was the baby face (the good guy) and a confrontation at the Showcase of the Immortals and it was the primary match to sell Wrestlemania X-8.

Enter Toronto, Ontario.

‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan comes to the ring….and he’s being cheered.  The Rock who has been universally loved throughout this build up….is being booed.  They start the match this way and it’s not working….but in an unprecedented move both men flip the script on live television to give the people what they want. Rock starts obviously disrespecting Hogan, giving the audience a reason to boo him while in classing Hogan fashion, he comes back and ‘Hulks Up” to make one of the more memorable matches in pro wrestling history.

For those who don’t quite understand, this is basically the equivalent of having to switch roles in the middle of a live play on Broadway.  Both Rock and Hogan switched gears on the fly (while not abandoning their characters) like professional s and this match is truly an example of the artistry that is involved with professional wrestling and it showed the world the potential that Dwayne Johnson truly has as a performer.

Be Cool

They all can’t be winners, but it’s all about what you do with it….

John Travolta is back as Chili Palmer in Be Cool, a sequel to the comedy smash Get Shorty. This time, Chili becomes a different kind of “hit” man — he abandons the movie industry to bring his wise guy skills and negotiation tactics to the music business.

Let’s be fair; 2005’s Be Cool is not a ‘good’ movie but Johnson takes the one dimensional character of aspiring actor/performer and gay bodyguard to Vince Vaughn’s over the top band manager Raji and makes it something memorable.  Back in 2005 this was the first time Johnson got to show dimension and character beyond being a physically imposing dude on the screen.

The Smashing Machine

To put it simply, Dwayne Johnson even with all his muscles and prosethics, he effortlessly disappears into the role of UFC/Pride Fighter Mark Kerr back in the mid-90’s as he deals with the heights of fame and the levels of pain that the sport inflicts on him during his struggles with pain pills and drugs.   He transforms himself into the mild mannered Kerr and shines a genuine light on the psychology of a professional fighter at the peak of their powers.   This just might be the performance that gets him taken seriously not only as a box office draw but as an actor.

Check in every Tuesday for a new list here at In The Seats!