The Rundown, Universal Pictures’ blockbuster release, makes it clear what

the Rock has been cooking – a genuine film career.

After his debut in 2002’s ‘The Scorpion King,’ Dwayne Johnson, better known as the Rock, explodes

onto the big screen in an overly clichéd, yet surprisingly believable way.

In ‘The Rundown,’ a rumble through the jungle packed with spectacular stuntwork and hilarious

comic interplay, Johnson portrays Beck, a highly specialized retrieval expert working for an underground kingpin. The catch: He wants out of the business. In the universally clichéd world of films, Beck naturally has to perform one last job to get his wish and secure the funds to actualize his dream owning his own restaurant.

The job takes him to the heart of the Amazon, searching for none other than the kingpin’s son, played by less Stiffler-like Seann William Scott.

The easily found Travis (Scott) is not so agreeably retrieved, however. He’s been busy zeroing in on the find of a lifetime, a priceless treasure known as El Gato del Diablo, the Devil’s Cat.

But in Beck’s multiple-choice world of option A: Do it my way, or B: I’ll make you do it my

way, he has no time to meddle with golden artifacts. He veritably kidnaps Travis, and the two begin the drive back to the El Dorado airstrip to finish the job.

Of course, it would make for a relatively short and boring film if everything happened according to plan.

Their Jeep careens over a cliff, leaving a frustrated Beck dragging the wise-cracking, and by this time handcuffed, treasure-hunter across the Brazilian jungle to get home.

Naturally, excited monkeys, hallucinogenic fruit and a pack of rebels trained in a form of gravity-defying jujitsu are bound to get in the way of any quest.

The pair also discover that Travis isn’t the only one on the treasure trail. Hatcher, a cynical madman reminiscent of Kurtz from The Heart of Darkness (surprisingly referenced in the film), and Mariana, a local bartender who views the artifact as an instrument of justice, also have their eyes on El Gato.

Hatcher (a marvelous Christopher Walken) and his gold-mining entourage pursue Mariana (Rosario Dawson), Beck and Travis (who by this time have conveniently joined forces) through the jungle in a high-speed chase that climaxes in a visually enticing standoff between Beck and Hatcher.

Between Johnson’s presence as a physical force of nature, Walken’s quirky anecdotes about the tooth fairy and the pure ingenuity of the fight scenes, The Rundown is a film definitely worth the $7.50.

The only detractions are the slightly sketchy cinematography errors and the clichés, such as the standard-issue priceless treasure and the lingering question over when Beck, who has sworn never to use a gun, is going to bust out the heavy artillery.

Although it would have made more sense as a summer release, the film certainly brightens the dull list of sadly described blockbusters this fall.

Rating: B