| 70 |
The Hollywood Reporter
The cast acquits itself well, with the Rock evincing a quiet balance between humor and brawn.
|
| 70 |
Variety
Moves along at a clip and provides a terrific action lead for Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.
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| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It still celebrates the vigilante spirit and justice delivered with a biblical swiftness, but it has been cleansed of much of its gratuitous violence and more offensive red-neck sensibilities. Mercifully, it's also a full 40 minutes shorter than the original.
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| 67 |
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
Don't go in expecting much and you'll have fun. Consider it The Rock's "Raw Deal."
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| 63 |
Miami Herald
It's blunt, to the point, aggressively manipulative and, at 86 minutes, not a minute longer than it needs to be.
|
| 63 |
New York Post
Exciting stuff in its primitive, predictable way.
|
| 60 |
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
Lacks the raw power of the original but offers its own brand of exploitative fun.
|
| 60 |
The New York Times
Walking Tall has no more fat on it than the Rock himself, a hulking yet curiously ingratiating presence who seems the most likely candidate to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as America's favorite living comic book character.
|
| 60 |
LA Weekly
Robert Abele
Johnny Knoxville has a few inspired bits as Vaughn's recovering-addict chum, and The Rock carries an effortlessly soft side in the nonviolent scenes, but Bray doesn't linger too long on anything that doesn't end in a thud or wallop.
|
| 60 |
Los Angeles Times
This Walking Tall does have the Rock, and that, both physically and metaphorically, is no small thing.
|
| 58 |
Entertainment Weekly
There's not a guy I know who hasn't been looking forward to seeing The Rock pick up the big wooden stick first swung by Joe Don Baker more than 30 years ago.
|
| 50 |
Dallas Observer
Unlike the original, there's no R-rated grit and no familial executions -- gotta get the young-skewing WWE fan base in there.
|
| 50 |
TV Guide
Although inspired by actual events, the film proceeds along formulaic wish-fulfillment lines, its dynamics unaltered by the casting of a mixed-race actor in what was originally a redneck role; it's a sign of some sort of social progress that justified ass-kicking trumps race.
|
| 50 |
New York Daily News
The only thing to be said for it is The Rock. I've never seen the guy wrestle, but as a movie action hero, he's the real deal.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Allison Benedikt
A fine shoot-'em-up remake. The story is mildly gripping, and the action is fresh and entertaining.
|
| 50 |
Rolling Stone
There was a time when guys would grab a six-pack and watch this kind of flick at a drive-in. I mean that as a compliment.
|
| 50 |
USA Today
Though there's something mildly disarming about a movie this unpretentious, a few more like it might end up turning The Rock into a TV actor.
|
| 50 |
Wall Street Journal
The movie itself is neither a catastrophe nor major.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Johnny Knoxville, famous for "Jackass,"...is, in fact, completely convincing and probably has a legitimate movie career ahead of him and doesn't have to stuff his underpants with dead chickens and hang upside down over alligator ponds any more.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
The movie itself is just a routine showcase, modest in its aspiration and effective within its limits, entertaining in the moment but, in the end, faintly silly. On the plus side, it's only 86 minutes long.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
Walking Tall, which is credited to four different writers, is wanting for a reason to be.
|
| 40 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
To its credit, the new Walking Tall is a good half-hour shorter than its predecessor, but even at 86 minutes, sitting through it is a chore.
|
| 38 |
ReelViews
Instead of generating a testosterone rush, the fight scenes release tryptophan. Not only are they boring, but they are choreographed in an amateurish fashion.
|
| 38 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
David Hiltbrand
A dull, drab and pointless rehash, Walking Tall ironically manages to diminish the Rock's stature as both a leading man and an action star.
|
| 38 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Okay, it's just a movie, but his "reward" just doesn't cut it, even on a basic storytelling level. A crooked casino and a nephew's experiment with drugs are not enough justification for the hero's violent acts of vengeance.
|
| 30 |
Washington Post
Actually underserves its star, who is better than schlocky material like this would lead you to believe.
|
| 30 |
Village Voice
Ed Halter
The plot is so absurdly perfunctory that preview audiences snickered at its TV-drama slapdashness; the producers should have pushed the straight-camp potential much further and retitled this weak bruiser Sporting Wood.
|
| 30 |
New York Magazine
The new film stars The Rock, but The Wood might be a better description of his performance.
|
| 30 |
Washington Post
One mediocre, ploddingly predictable film, loaded down with cheesy Hollywood tactics.
|
| 30 |
Austin Chronicle
Retains and updates the basic plot points while losing much of the original's heart and soul.
|
| 25 |
Premiere
Short on story, character, and attempts to win viewers' emotional investment, the film only seems to take a breath when The Rock is making the baddies lose theirs.
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