Summary
- Dwayne Johnson has a tendency to act in films set in the jungle, and this trend has been ongoing for two decades.
- The movies range from action-packed to family-friendly, but all feature the beautiful and humid jungle as a backdrop.
- From his early role in “The Rundown” to the recent “Jungle Cruise,” Johnson has consistently found himself battling bad guys and navigating the dense foliage of the jungle.
From famous wrestler to iconic actor, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson boasts a long list of roles, in movies ranging from pure action to heartwarming kids movies, however, one of the weirdest trends that appears in Johnson’s resume in his tendency to act in films taking place in the jungle. So far, with over twenty years in the industry, Johnson has appeared in an astounding six jungle movies. While all of these films bring something different to the table, they are all set in the humid and beautiful jungle and have Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on their roster.
It’s unclear why so many of Dwayne Johnson’s movies take place in the jungle. What’s even stranger is that this trend is not just a recent phenomenon among his newest projects, but started as early as 2003. In this way, Johnson has been traversing dense jungles in movies for two decades now. Either way, it seems that Hollywood enjoys throwing the wrestler-turned-actor into the foliage, and he doesn’t seem to mind too much either. The list of every Dwayne Johnson jungle movie in chronological order is as follows:
6 The Rundown (2003)
One of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s earliest starring roles, The Rundown follows Johnson as Beck, a reserved and physically menacing bounty hunter who is tasked with retrieving his employer’s son from the Amazon rainforest. Unsurprisingly, this seemingly simple task is made more complicated when a controlling treasure hunter and his lackeys try to prevent Beck from leaving. With the help of a beautiful rebel, the Beck and his ward must fight to get back home. Not only does this film show off a very young Dwayne Johnson, but it is also the first example of Johnson fighting bad guys in a gorgeous green jungle background.
5 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
Nine years later, Johnson made his return to the jungle in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Acting as a sequel to 2008’s, Journey to the Center of the Earth, this film depicts Josh Hutcherson’s Sean, a brainy teenager, noticing a distress signal coming from an island that shouldn’t exist. Alongside his step-father, Dwayne Johnson, and a local helicopter driver and his daughter, Sean travels to this island to uncover the mystery of its single human inhabitant. With this fictional island supposedly set in the South Pacific, Johnson is back in the jungle for a more kid-friendly experience. Plus, this jungle includes strange occurrences like tiny elephants.
4 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
After two separate films set in the jungle, Dwayne Johnson’s newest franchise, the Jumanji sequels, ironically, also took place in the jungle. In it, Johnson plays Dr. Xander “Smolder” Braveheart, otherwise known as Spencer. The premise of the film is that a group of teens opens the Jumanji game and are dragged into the same jungle that Alan Parrish escaped from in the original 1995 film. However, this time they take on the form of video game avatars, i.e. Dwayne Johnson. In this film, the jungle is most definitely a major part of the story, but more than that, it represents the artificial setting of a video game.
3 Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
The Jumanji franchise quickly released a sequel two years later, bringing Johnson back to his favorite setting. Jumanji: The Next Level begins when Spencer mysteriously returns to the Jumanji jungle, reinstating his Dwayne Johnson avatar, and his friends must follow him in. However, the game isn’t what it once was, and in fact, is fighting the teens, forcing them onto a collision course they never expected. As a sequel, this film brings back the jungle setting it established in the previous film along with some new terrain like the desert and snowy mountaintops.
2 Red Notice (2021)
In the year 2021, Dwayne Johnson appeared in two separate jungle movies. The first was Red Notice, an action comedy wherein Johnson’s character is FBI agent John Hartley. While investigating the location of a missing ancient artifact, he gets sucked into a competition between two art thiefs. Although this movie has plenty of globetrotting, it does eventually land in a jungle in Argentina, where Johnson must once again cut through the branches and vines to find what he is looking for. Despite being a brief foray into the jungle rather than an entire film dedicated to it, Red Notice is definitely still a part of this trend.
1 Jungle Cruise (2021)
The sixth and final jungle movie Dwayne Johnson appears in even has jungle in the name. Disney’s Jungle Cruise movie follows Emily Blunt’s Dr. Lily Houghton as she recruits sarcastic boat captain, Johnson’s Frank Wolff, to help her travel down the Amazon River in search of a tree with healing properties. Once again, Johnson is placed in the wild terrain of the Amazon Rainforest, and this time, the jungle is something of its own character. Plus, the Amazon River is actually something of a new and exciting addition to Johnson’s typical jungle themes. Although this is the latest Dwayne Johnson jungle movie, it most likely won’t be his last.
