(Credit: HBO)

For many of us, Dwayne Johnson will always be The Rock. Certainly one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, it’s easy for us to imagine the California-born monolith battling it out in the ring, but after eight years in the WWF/WWE, The Rock set out to become a movie star, a goal that he has certainly accomplished.

After his early hopes of being a professional football player were dashed, Johnson was grateful to take on a role in the wrestling world, but following his first taste of the movie industry with 2001’s The Mummy Returns, he knew that he had a new calling in life, following up with his first lead in The Scorpion King.

From there, Johnson never looked back and has continued to deliver some impressive performances in the action and comedy movie genres. With fine efforts in the likes of Tooth Fairy, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Hercules, Get Smart, Baywatch and Fast Five, Johnson has transcended his early sporting years and become a full-on movie star.

In fact, it can be easy to miss out on some of Johnson’s best moments on the big screen, considering his ever-growing filmography, and there’s a forgotten buddy action comedy film that is proving popular on Netflix right now, the 2003 Peter Berg film The Rundown, also starring Seann William Scott, Christopher Walker, Rosario Dawson and William Lucking.

Johnson plays Beck, a bounty hunter who is tasked with setting out for Brazil to bring back the son of his employer. In an interview with Hollywood.com, Johnson admitted that the simplicity of The Rundown makes it so approachable. “It should only take a certain amount of brainpower in order to follow the story,” the actor said. “When I read Beck, I knew it would be an interesting character for me to play, that I could draw on some personal experiences of my own.”

Johnson went on to say that even he found some of the more physical challenges of the film somewhat taxing. “The fight sequences were difficult, especially the rebel fight sequence,” he added. “Those guys were amazing–and they were only this big. They look even smaller next to me, but man, they were quick.”

Having cost around $85million to make, The Rundown is considered a box office bomb, having failed to make any money back with just an $80.9million take. That amount of money might not have been too bad for a smaller movie, but the fact that the film cost so much meant that its economic prospects were always going to be a risk.

Still, from a critical perspective, The Rundown seems to have done okay. Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5/4 stars, writing in his review, “Early in The Rundown, The Rock is entering a nightclub to confront some tough guys, and he passes Arnold Schwarzenegger on the way out. ‘Have a good time,’ Arnold says. It’s like he’s passing the torch. Whether The Rock will rival Schwarzenegger’s long run as an action hero is hard to say — but on the basis of The Rundown, he has a good chance.”

Looking at the kind of career Johnson has had since the release of The Rundown, it’s fair to say that he has at least challenged the kind of reputation for action brilliance that Schwarzenegger enjoyed in the 1980s, even if he hasn’t eclipsed it. As The Rundown climbs up the Netflix charts, it’s clear that the film is, at the very least, well worth a watch, even if only for nostalgia’s sake.